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LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.    H.    H.    Kil  ianl 

Willie  beckoned  her  mysteriously 

Original  Etching 


31UustratPiJ  ^trrlittQ  iEbilimt 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE 
ME  LONG 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE 


By 
CHARLES  READE,  D.  C.  L. 


BOSTON 

DANA   E5TE.S  &   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


W 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG 

PAGE 

Twelve  o'clock  came  and  found  them  still  wallow- 
ing IN  modern  antiquity 25 

The  carriage  went  on,  and  left  him  standing  in  the 

road 183 

"  I  AM  SORRY  I  CAME  TO  SPOIL  YOUR  PLEASURE  "  .    .   304 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE 

Willie  beckoned  her  mysteriously  .       .       .      Frontispiece 

Chriistie  Johnstone 18 

Our   artist   used   to   work,  and  Christie    tell   him 

stories  the  while 57 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  L 


Nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  Lucy  Fountain,  a 
young  lady  of  beauty  and  distinction,  was,  by  the  death 
of  her  mother,  her  sole  surviving  parent,  left  in  the 
hands  of  her  two  trustees,  Edward  Fountain,  Esq.,  of 
Font  Abbey,  and  Mr.  Bazalgette,  a  merchant  whose  wife 
was  Mrs.  Fountain's  half-sister. 

They  agreed  to  lighten  the  burden  by  dividing  it.  She 
should  spend  half  the  year  with  each  trustee  in  turn, 
until  marriage  should  take  her  off  their  hands. 

Our  mild  tale  begins  in  Mr.  Bazalgette's  house  two 
years  after  the  date  of  that  arrangement. 

The  chit-chat  must  be  your  main  clew  to  the  charac- 
ters. In  life  it  is  the  same.  Men  and  women  won't 
come  to  you  ticketed,  or  explanation  in  hand. 

"  Lucy,  you  are  a  great  comfort  in  a  house :  it  is  so 
nice  to  have  some  one  to  pour  out  one's  heart  to ;  my 
husband  is  no  use  at  all." 

"  Aunt  Bazalgette  !  " 

"  In  that  way.  You  listen  to  my  faded  illusions,  to 
the  aspirations  of  a  nature  too  finely  organized,  ah! 
to  find  its  happiness  in  this  rough  selfish  world ;  when 
I  open  my  bosom  to  him,  what  does  he  do  ?  guess  now,  — 
whistles." 
A 


4        LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  Then  I  call  that  rude." 

"  So  do  I,  and  then  he  whistles  more  and  more." 

"Yes;  but,  aunt,  if  any  serious  grief  or  trouble  fell 
upon  you,  you  would  find  Mr.  Bazalgette  a  much  greater 
comfort  and  a  better  stay  than  poor  spiritless  me." 

"  Oh,  if  the  house  took  fire  and  fell  about  our  ears,  he 
would  come  out  of  his  shell,  no  doubt ;  or  if  the  chil- 
dren all  died  one  after  another,  poor  dear  little  souls : 
but  those  great  troubles  only  come  in  stories.  Give  me  a 
friend  that  can  sympathize  with  the  real  hourly  mortifica- 
tions of  a  too  susceptible  nature ;  sit  on  this  ottoman,  and 
let  me  go  on ;  where  was  I,  when  Jones  came  and  inter- 
rupted us  ?  they  always  do  just  at  the  interesting  point." 

Miss  Fountain's  face  promptly  wreathed  itself  into  an 
expectant  smile ;  she  abandoned  her  hand,  and  her  ear, 
and  leaned  her  graceful  person  towards  her  aunt,  while 
that  lady  murmured  to  her  in  low  and  thrilling  tones  — 
his  eyes,  his  long  hair,  his  imaginative  expressions,  his 
romantic  projects  of  frugal  love ;  how  her  harsh  papa 
had  warned  Adonis  off  the  premises,  how  Adonis  went 
without  a  word  (as  pale  as  death,  love),  and  soon  after  in 
his  despair  flung  himself — to  an  ugly  heiress,  and  how 
this  disappointment  had  darkened  her  whole  life,  and 
so  on. 

Perhaps  if  Adonis  had  stood  before  her  now,  rolling 
his  eyes,  and  his  phrases  hot  from  the  annuals,  the 
flourishing  matron  might  have  sent  him  to  the  servants' 
hall  with  a  wave  of  her  white  and  jewelled  hand.  But 
the  melody  disarms  this  sort  of  brutal  criticism :  a 
woman's  voice  relating  love's  young  dream :  and  then 
the  picture  ;  a  matron  still  handsome  pouring  into  a 
lovely  virgin's  ear  the  last  thing  she  ought ;  the  young 
beauty's  eyes  mimicking  sympathy,  the  ripe  beauty's 
soft  delicious  accents  —  purr  !  purr !  purr ! 

Crash  overhead!  a  window  smashed,  aie  !  aie  !  clatter! 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.        5 

clatter!  screams  of  infantile  rage  and  feminine  remon- 
strance, feet  pattering,  and  a  general  hullah-baloo,  cut 
the  soft  recital  in  two.  The  ladies  unclasped  hands  like 
guilty  things  surprised. 

Lucy  sprang  to  her  feet :  the  oppressed  one  sank  slowly 
and  gracefully  back  inch  by  inch  on  the  ottoman  with  a 
sigh  of  ostentatious  resignation,  and  gazed  martyr-like 
on  the  chandelier. 

"  Will  you  not  go  up  to  the  nursery  ?  "  cried  Lucy  in 
a  flutter. 

"No,  dear,"  replied  the  other  faintly,  but  as  cool  as  a 
marble  slab,  "  you  go,  cast  some  of  your  oil  upon  those 
ever  troubled  waters,  and  then  come  back  and  let  us  try 
once  more." 

Miss  Fountain  heard  but  half  this  sentence  :  she  was 
already  gliding  up  the  stairs.  She  opened  the  nursery 
door,  and  there  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  "  Original 
Sin."  Its  name  after  the  flesh  was  Master  Reginald ;  it 
was  half-past  six,  had  been  baptized  in  church,  after 
which  every  child  becomes,  according  to  certain  polemic 
divines  of  the  day,  "a  little  soul  of  Christian  fire,"  — 
until  it  goes  to  a  public  school :  and  there  it  straddled, 
two  scarlet  cheeks  puffed  out  with  rage,  soft  flaxen  hair 
streaming,  cerulean  eyes  glowing,  the  poker  grasped  in 
two  chubby  fists :  it  had  poked  a  window  in  vague  ire, 
and  now  threatened  two  females  with  extinction  if  they 
ailed  it  any  more. 

The  two  grown-up  women  were  discovered,  erect  but 
flat  in  distant  corners,  avoiding  the  bayonet  and  trusting 
to  their  artillery. 

"Wicked  boy!"          ^ 

"  Naughty  boy  ! "        >  (grape). 

"  Little  ruffian,"  etc.  J 

And  hints  as  to  the  ultimate  destination  of  so  san- 
guinary a  soul  (round  shot). 


6        LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  Ah,  here's  miss.  Oh  !  miss,  we  are  so  glad  you  are 
come  up  ;  don't  go  a-nigh  him,  miss ;  he  is  a  tiger." 

Miss  Fountain  smiled,  and  went  gracefully  on  one 
knee  beside  him;  this  brought  her  angelic  face  level 
with  the  fallen  cherub's.  "  What  is  the  matter,  dear  ?  " 
asked  she,  in  a  tone  of  soft  pity. 

The  tiger  was  not  prepared  for  this ;  he  dropped  his 
poker  and  flung  his  little  arms  round  his  cousin's  neck. 

'''  I  love  YOU,  oh  !  oh !  oh  !  " 

"  Yes,  dear :  then  tell  me  now ;  what  is  the  matter  ? 
What  have  you  been  doing  ?  " 

"  Koth —  noth —  nothing  —  it's  th —  them  been  na — 
a — agging  me  !  " 

"  Nagging  you  ?  "  and  she  smiled  at  the  word  and  a 
tiger's  horror  of  it.  "Wlio  has  been  nagging  you, 
love  ?  " 

"Th — those  —  bit — bit — it."  The  word^  was  unfor- 
tunately lost  in  a  sob.  It  was  followed  by  red  faces 
and  two  simultaneous  yells  of  remonstrance  and  objur- 
gation. 

''I  must  ask  you  to  be  silent  a  minute,"  said  Miss 
Fountain  quietly.  "  Reginald,  what  do  you  mean  by  — 
by  — nagging?" 

Reginald  explained.  "  By  nagging  he  meant  —  why  — 
nagging." 

"  Well,  then,  what  had  they  been  doing  to  him  ?  " 

"  No !  "  poor  Reginald  was  not  analytical,  dialectical, 
and  critical,  like  certain  pedanticules,  Avho  figure  in  story 
as  children.  He  was  a  terrible  infant,  not  a  horrible 
one. 

"They  won't  fight  —  and  they  won't  make  it  up,  and 
they  keep  nagging,"  was  all  could  be  got  out  of  him. 

"Come  with  me,  dear,"  said  Lucy  gravely.  "Yes," 
assented  the  tiger  softly,  and  went  out  awe-struck,  hold- 

I  Bit-ter,  bad  bargains. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG,  7 

ing  her  hand  and  paddling  three  steps  to  each  of   her 
serpentine  glides. 

Seated  in  her  own  room,  Tiger  at  knee,  she  tried  topics 
of  admonition ;  during  these  his  eyes  wandered  about 
the  room  in  search  of  matter  more  amusing ;  so  she  was 
obliged  to  bring  up  her  reserve. 

"  And  no  young  lady  will  ever  marry  you." 

*'  I  don't  want  them  to,  cousin.  I  wouldn't  let  them ; 
you  will  marry  me :  because  you  promised." 

"  Did  I  ?  " 

"  Why,  you  know  you  did ;  upon  your  honor :  and  no 
lady  or  gentleman  ever  breaks  their  word  when  they  say 
that ;  you  told  me  so  yourself,"  added  he  of  the  incon- 
venient memory. 

"Ah,  but  there  is  another  rule  that  I  forgot  to  tell 
you." 

"^Vhatis  that?" 

"  That  no  lady  ever  marries  a  gentleman  who  has  a 
violent  temper." 

"  Oh,  don't  they  ?  " 

"No,  they  would  be  afraid;  if  you  had  a  wife,  and 
took  up  the  poker,  she  would  faint  away  —  and  die  — 
perhaps." 

"  Oh,  dear ! " 

"  I  should." 

"  But,  cousin,  you  would  not  ivant  the  poker  taken  to 
you — you  never  nag." 

"  Perhaps  that  is  because  we  are  not  married  yet." 

"What  then,  when  we  are,  shall  you  turn  like  the 
others  ?  " 

"Impossible  to  say." 

"  Well,  then  (after  a  moment's  hesitation),  I'll  marry 
you  all  the  same." 

"No!  you  forget,  I  shall  be  afraid  till  your  temper 
mends." 


8        LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  I'll  mend  it.  It  is  mended  now.  See  how  good  I 
am  noAv,"  added  he  with  self-admiration  and  a  shade  of 
surprise. 

"  I  don't  call  this  mending  it ;  for  I  am  not  the  one 
that  offended  you  ;  mending  it  is  promising  me  never, 
never  to  call  naughty  names  again ;  how  would  you  like 
to  be  called  a  puppy-dog  ?  " 

"  I'd  kill  'em." 

"  There,  you  see  —  then  how  can  you  expect  poor  nurse 
to  like  it?" 

"You  don't  understand,  cousin;  Tom  said  to  George 
the  groom  that  Mrs.  Jones  was  an  —  old  —  stingy  "  — 

'^  I  don't  want  to  hear  anything  about  Tom." 

"  He  is  such  a  clever  fellow,  cousin.  So  I  think,  if 
Jones  is  an  old  one,  those  two  that  keep  nagging  me 
must  be  young  ones.  AVhat  do  you  think  yourself  ? " 
asked  Reginald,  appealing  suddenly  to  her  candor. 

"  And  no  doubt  it  was  Tom  that  taught  you  this  other 
vulgar  word  '  nagging,' "  was  the  evasive  reply. 

"ISTo,  that  was  mamma." 

Lucy  colored,  wheeled  quickly,  and  demanded  severely 
of  the  terrible  infant,  "■  Who  is  this  Tom  ?  " 

"  What,  don't  you  know  Tom  ?  "  Reginald  began  to 
lose  a  grain  of  his  respect  for  her.  "  Why,  he  helps  in 
the  stables ;  oh,  cousin,  he  is  such  a  nice  fellow." 

"  Reginald,  I  shall  never  marry  you  if  you  keep  com- 
pany with  grooms,  and  speak  their  language." 

"  Well ! "  sighed  the  victim,  "  I'll  give  up  Tom  sooner 
than  you." 

"Thank  you,  dear  —  now  I  am  flattered.  One  struggle 
more  :  we  must  go  together  and  ask  the  nurses'  jjardons." 

"  Must  we  ?  ugh  ! " 

"  Yes  —  and  kiss  them,  —  and  make  it  up." 

Reginald  made  a  wry  face ;  but,  after  a  pause  of 
solemn  reflection,  he  consented  on  condition  that  Lucy 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  9 

would  keep  near  him,  and  kiss  him  directly  after- 
wards. 

"  I  shall  be  svire  to  do  that,  because  you  will  be  a  good 
boy  then." 

Outside  the  door  Keginald  paused  —  "I  have  a  favor 
to  ask  you,  cousin  —  a  great  favor.  You  see,  I  am  very 
little  :  and  you  are  so  big ;  now  the  husband  ought  to  be 
the  biggest." 

"  Quite  my  own  opinion,  Reggy." 

"  Well,  dear,  now,  if  you  would  be  so  kind  as  not  to 
grow  any  older,  till  I  catch  you  up,  I  shall  be  so  very, 
very,  very  much  obliged  to  you,  dear." 

"1  will  try,  Reggy.  Twenty  is  a  very  good  age.  I 
will  stay  there  as  long  as  my  friends  will  let  me." 

"  Thank  you,  cousin." 

"  But  that  is  not  what  we  have  in  hand." 

The  nurses  were  just  agreeing  what  a  shame  it  was  of 
miss  to  take  that  little  vagabond's  part  against  them, 
when  she  opened  the  door.  "  Nurse,  here  is  a  penitent, 
a  young  gentleman  who  is  never  going  to  use  rude  words, 
or  be  violent  and  naughty  again." 

"  La,  miss  !  why,  it  is  witchcraft  —  the  dear  child  — 
soon  up,  and  soon  down,  as  a  boy  should." 

"Beg  par'n  nurse  — beg  par'n  Kitty,"  recited  the  dear 
child,  late  tiger,  and  kissed  them  both  hastily  :  and,  the 
double  formula  gone  through,  ran  to  Miss  Fountain  and 
kissed  her  with  warmth  while  the  nurses  were  reciting 
"  little  angel,"  "  all  heart,"  etc. 

"  To  take  the  taste  out  of  my  mouth,"  explained  the 
penitent,  and  was  left  with  his  propitiated  females  :  and 
didn't  they  nag  him  at  short  intervals  until  sunset !  But, 
strong  in  the  contemplation  of  his  future  union  with 
cousin  Lucy,  this  great  heart  in  a  little  body  despised 
the  pins  and  needles  that  had  goaded  him  to  fury  before. 

Lucy  went  down   to   the    drawing-room.     She   found 


10  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  leaning  with  one  elbow  on  the  table,  her 
hand  shading  her  high  polished  forehead  ;  her  grave  face 
reflected  great  mental  power  taxed  to  the  uttermost.  So 
Newton  looked,  solving  Nature. 

Miss  Fountain  came  in  full  of  the  nursery  business, 
but  catching  sight  of  so  much  mind  in  labor,  approached 
it  with  silent  curiosity. 

The  oracle  looked  up  with  an  absorbed  air,  and  deliv- 
ered itself  very  slowly,  with  eye  turned  inwards. 

"  I  am  afraid  —  I  don't  think  —  I  quite  like  my  new 
dress." 

"  That  is  unfortunate." 

"  That  would  not  matter  ;  I  never  like  anything  till  I 
have  altered  it ;  but  here  is  Baldwin  has  just  sent  me 
word  that  her  mother  is  dying,  and  she  can't  undertake 
any  work  for  a  week.  Provoking  —  couldn't  the  woman 
die  just  as  well  after  the  ball  ?  " 

"  Oh,  aunt ! " 

"  And  my  maid  has  no  more  taste  than  an  owl.  What 
on  earth  am  I  to  do  ?  " 

"  Wear  another  dress." 

''  What  other  can  I  ?  " 

"  Nothing  can  be  prettier  than  your  white  mousseline- 
de-soie  with  the  tartan  trimming." 

"  No  :  I  have  worn  that  at  four  balls  already ;  I  won't 
be  known  by  my  colors  like  a  bird.  I  have  made  up  my 
mind  to  wear  the  jaune,  and  I  will  in  sjiite  of  them  all ; 
that  is,  if  I  can  find  anybody  who  cares  enough  for  me 
to  try  it  on  and  tell  me  what  it  wants."  Lucy  offered  at 
once  to  go  with  her  to  her  room,  and  try  it  on. 

"  No  —  no  —  it  is  so  cold  there  —  we  will  do  it  here  by 
the  fire  —  you  will  find  it  in  the  large  wardrobe,  dear  — 
mind  how  you  carry  it,  Lucy  !  —  lots  of  pins." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  then  rang  the  bell  and  told  the  servant 
to  say  she  was  out  if  any  one  called,  no  matter  who. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  11 

Meantime  Lucy,  impressed  with  the  gravity  of  her 
office,  took  the  dress  carefully  down  from  the  pegs  ;  and 
as  it  would  have  been  death  o  crease  it,  and  destruction 
to  let  its  hem  sweep  against  any  of  the  inferior  forms  of 
matter,  she  came  down  the  stairs  and  into  the  room, 
holding  this  female  weapon  of  destruction  as  high  above 
her  head  as  Judith  waves  the  sword  of  Holofernes  in 
Etty's  immortal  picture. 

The  other  had  just  found  time  to  loosen  her  dress  and 
lock  one  of  the  doors ;  she  now  locked  the  other,  and  the 
rites  began.     WeU  ! !  ?  ? 

"  It  fits  you  like  a  glove." 

"  Really  ?  tell  the  truth  now ;  it  is  a  sin  to  tell  a  story 
—  about  a  new  gown  —  what  a  nuisance  one  can't  see 
behind  one." 

"I  could  fetch  another  glass,  but  you  may  trust  my 
word,  aunt.  This  point  behind  is  very  becoming,  it  gives 
distinction  to  the  waist." 

"  Yes  —  Baldwin  cuts  these  bodies  better  than  Olivier ; 
but  the  worst  of  her  is,  when  it  comes  to  the  trimming 
you  have  to  think  for  yourself;  the  woman  has  no 
mind;  she  is  a  pair  of  hands,  and  there  is  an  end  of 
her." 

"  I  must  confess  it  is  a  little  plain,  for  one  thing,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  little  goose,  you  don't  think  I  am  going  to 
wear  it  like  this.  No,  I  thought  of  having  down  a 
wreath  and  bouquet  from  Foster's  of  violets  and  heart's- 
ease  —  the  bosom  and  sleeves  covered  with  blonde,  you 
know,  and  caught  up  here  and  there  with  a  small  bunch 
of  the  flowers.  Then,  in  the  centre  heart's-ease  of  the 
bosom,  I  meant  to  have  had  two  of  my  largest  diamonds 
set  —  hush ! " 

The  door-handle  worked  viciously ;  then  came  rap  I 
rap  !  rap !  rap  ! 


12       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  Tic  —  tic  —  tic  —  this  is  always  the  way.  Who  is 
there  ?  go  away  —  you  can't  come  here." 

"But  I  want  to  speak  to  you  —  what  the  deuce  are 
you  doing  ?  "  said  through  the  keyhole  the  wretch  that 
owned  the  room  in  a  mere  legal  sense. 

"  We  are  trying  a  dress.     Come  again  in  an  hour." 

"  Confound  your  dresses  !     Who  is  we  ?  " 

"  Lucy  has  got  a  new  dress." 

"  Aunt,"  whispered  Lucy,  in  a  tone  of  piteous  expos- 
tulation. 

"Oh,  if  it  is  Lucy.  Well,  good-by,  ladies.  I  am 
obliged  to  go  to  London  at  a  moment's  notice,  for  a 
couple  of  days.  You  will  have  done  by  when  I  come 
back,  perhaps :  "  and  off  went  Bazalgette  whistling,  but 
not  best  pleased.  He  had  told  his  wife  more  than  once 
that  the  drawing-rooms  and  dining-rooms  of  a  house  are 
the  public  rooms,  and  the  bedrooms  the  private  ones. 

Lucy  colored  with  mortification ;  it  was  death  to  her 
to  annoy  any  one ;  so  her  aunt  had  thrust  her  into  a 
cruel  position. 

"  Poor  Mr.  Bazalgette  ! "  sighed  she. 

"  Fiddle-de-dee.  Let  him  go ;  and  come  back  in  a 
better  temper,  —  set  transparent ;  so  then  backed  by  the 
violet  you  know  they  will  imitate  dew-drops  to  the  life." 

"  Charming !  Why  not  let  Olivier  do  it  for  you,  as 
poor  Baldwin  cannot  ?  " 

"Because  Olivier  works  for  the  Claytons,  and  we 
should  have  that  Emily  Clayton  coming  out  as  my 
double,  and  as  we  visit  the  same  houses  "  — 

"And  as  she  is  extremely  pretty — aunt,  what  a  gen- 
eralissima  you  are  ! " 

"  Pretty !  Snub-nosed  little  toad.  No.  She  is  not 
pretty.  But  she  is  eighteen :  so  I  can't  afford  to  dress 
her.  No.  I  see  I  shall  have  to  moderate  my  views  for 
this  gown,  and  buy  another  dress  for  the  flowers  and 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  13 

diamonds.  There,  take  it  off,  and  let  us  think  it  calmly 
over.  I  never  act  in  a  hurry  but  I  am  sorry  for  it  after- 
wards, I  mean  in  things  of  real  importance."  The  gown 
was  taken  off  in  silence,  broken  only  by  occasional  sighs 
from  the  sufferer,  in  whose  heart  a  dozen  projects  battled 
fiercely  for  the  mastery  and  worried  and  sore  perplexed 
her,  and  rent  her  inmost  soul  fiercely  divers  ways. 

"  Black  lace,  dear,"  suggested  Lucy  soothingly. 

Mrs.  B.  curled  her  arm  lovingly  round  Lucy's  waist. 
"  Just  what  I  was  beginning  to  think,"  said  she,  warmly. 
"  And  we  can't  both  be  mistaken,  can  we  ?  But  where 
can  I  get  enough  ? "  and  her  countenance,  that  the 
cheering  coincidence  had  rendered  seraphic,  was  once 
more  clouded  with  doubt. 

"  Why,  you  have  yards  of  it." 

"  Yes  —  but  mine  is  all  made  up  in  some  form  or 
other,  and  it  messes  one's  things  so  to  pick  them  to 
pieces." 

"So  it  does,  dear,"  replied  Lucy  with  gentle  but 
genuine  feeling. 

"  It  would  only  be  for  one  night,  Lucy  —  I  should  not 
hurt  it,  love  —  you  would  not  like  to  fetch  down  your 
Brussels  point  scarf,  and  see  how  it  would  look,  would 
you  ?  we  need  not  cut  the  lace,  dear ;  we  could  tack  it 
on  again  next  morning :  you  are  not  so  particular  as  I 
am  —  you  look  well  in  anything." 

Lucy  was  soon  seated  denuding  herself  and  embellish- 
ing her  aunt.  The  latter  reclined  with  grace  and  fur- 
thered the  work  by  smile  and  gesture. 

"  You  don't  ask  me  about  the  skirmish  in  the  nursery." 

"  Their  squabbles  bore  me,  dear :  but  you  can  tell  me 
who  was  the  most  in  fault,  if  you  think  it  worth  while." 

"  Reginald,  then,  I  am  afraid ;  but  it  is  not  the  poor 
boy ;  it  is  the  influence  of  the  stable-yard ;  and  I  do 
advise  and  entreat  you  to  keep  him  out  of  it." 


14       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"Impossible,  my  dear;  you  don't  know  boys.  The 
stable  is  their  paradise.  When  he  grows  older  his  father 
must  interfere ;  meantime  let  us  talk  of  something  more 
agreeable." 

"  Yes  —  you  shall  go  on  with  your  story.  You  had 
got  to  his  look  of  despair,  when  your  papa  came  in  that 
morning." 

"Oh —  I  have  no  time  for  anybody's  despair  just  now 

—  I  can  think  of  nothing  but  this  detestable  gown. 
Lucy,  I  suspect  I  almost  wish  I  had  made  them  put 
another  breadth  into  the  skirt." 

"  Luncheon,  ma'am." 

Lucy  begged  her  aunt  to  go  down  alone ;  she  would 
stay  and  work. 

"No,  you  must  come  to  luncheon;  there  is  a  dish  on 
purpose  for  you  —  stewed  eels." 

"  Eels !  why,  I  abhor  them ;  I  think  they  are  water- 
serpents." 

"  Wlio  is  it  that  is  so  fond  of  them,  then  ?  " 

"  It  is  you,  aunt." 

"So  it  is.  I  thought  it  had  been  you.  Come,  j^ou 
must  come  down,  whether  you  eat  anything  or  not.  I 
like  somebody  to  talk  to  me  while  I  am  eating,  and  I  had 
an  idea  just  now  —  it  is  gone  —  but  perhaps  it  will  come 
back  to  me ;  it  was  about  this  abominable  gown.  Oh ! 
how  I  wish  there  was  not  such  a  thing  as  dress  in  the 
world ! " 

While  Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  munching  water-snakes 
with  delicate  zeal,  and  Lucy  nibbling  cake,  came  a  letter 

—  Mrs.  Bazalgette  read  it  with  heightening  color,  laid  it 
down,  cast  a  pitying  glance  on  Lucy,  and  said  with  a 
sigh,  "  Poor  girl." 

Lucy  turned  a  little  pale.  "  Has  anything  happened  ?  " 
she  faltered. 

"Something  is  going  to  happen:  you  are  to  be  torn 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    ME   LONG.  15 

away  from  here,  where  you  are  so  happy,  where  we  all 
love  you,  clear;  it  is  from  that  selfish  old  bachelor. 
Listen :  '  Dear  madam,  my  niece  Lucy  has  now  been  due 
here  three  days.  I  have  waited  to  see  whether  you 
would  part  with  her  without  being  dunned.  My  curi- 
osity on  that  point  is  satisfied,  and  I  have  now  only  my 
affection  to  consult,  which  I  do  by  requesting  you  to  put 
her  and  her  maid  into  a  carriage  that  will  be  waiting  for 
her  at  your  door,  twenty-four  hours  after  you  receive 
this  note.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  madam,'  —  an  old 
brute  !  And  you  can  smile ;  but  that  is  you  all  over ; 
you  don't  care  a  straw  whether  you  are  happy  or  miser- 
able." 

«  Don't  I  ?  " 

"■  Not  you  —  you  will  leave  this,  where  you  are  a  little 
queen,  and  go  and  bury  yourself  three  months  with  that 
old  bachelor,  and  nobody  will  ever  gather  from  your  face 
that  you  are  bored  to  death ;  and  here  we  are  asked  to 
the  Cavendish's  next  Wednesday,  and  the  Hunt's  ball  on 
Friday  —  you  are  such  a  lucky  girl  —  our  best  invitations 
always  drop  in  while  you  are  with  us  —  we  go  out  three 
times  as  often  during  your  months  as  at  other  times ;  it 
is  your  good  fortune,  or  the  weather,  or  something." 

''Dear  aunt,  this  was  your  own  arrangement  with 
Uncle  Fountain ;  I  used  to  be  six  months  with  each  in 
turn  till  you  insisted  on  its  being  three  ;  you  make  me 
almost  lavigh,  both  you  and  Uncle  Fountain;  what  do 
you  see  in  me  worth  quarrelling  for  ?  " 

"  I  will  tell  you  what  Ite  sees,  a  good  little  spiritless 
thing  "  — 

"I  am  larger  than  you,  dear." 

"  Yes,  in  body  —  that  he  can  make  a  slave  of  —  always 
ready  to  nurse  him  and  his  toe,  or  to  put  down  your 
work  and  to  take  up  his ;  to  play  at  his  vile  back- 
gammon." 


16  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  Piquet  —  please." 

"  Where  is  the  difference  ?  to  share  his  desolation,  and 
take  half  his  blue  devils  on  your  own  shoulders,  till  he 
will  hyp  you  so  that  to  get  away  you  will  consent  to 
marry  into  his  set,  the  county  set,  some  beggarly  old 
family  that  came  down  from  the  Conquest,  and  has  been 
going  down  ever  since ;  so  then  he  will  let  you  fly  — 
with  a  string  —  you  must  vegetate  two  miles  from  him  ; 
so  then  he  can  have  you  in  to  Backquette  and  write  his 
letters  —  he  will  settle  four  hundred  a  year  on  you,  and 
you  will  be  miserable  for  life." 

"  Poor  Uncle  Fountain,  what  a  schemer  he  turns  out." 

"Men  all  turn  out  schemers  when  you  know  them, 
Miss  Impertinence.  Well,  dear,  I  have  no  selfish  views 
for  you.  I  love  my  few  friends  too  single-heartedly  for 
that;  but  I  am  sad  when  I  see  you  leaving  us  to  go 
where  you  are  not  prized." 

"Indeed,  aunt,  I  am  prized  at  Pont  Abbey.  I  am 
over-rated  there  as  I  am  here.  They  all  receive  me  with 
open  arms." 

"  So  is  a  hare  when  it  comes  into  a  trap,"  said  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  sharply,  drawing  upon  a  limited  knowledge 
of  grammar  and  field  sports. 

"  No  —  Uncle  Fountain  really  loves  me." 

"  As  much  as  I  do  ?  "  asked  the  lady  with  a  treach- 
erous smile. 

"Very  nearly,"  was  the  young  courtier's  reply.  She 
went  on  to  console  her  aunt's  unselfish  solicitude  by 
assuring  her  that  Font  Abbey  was  not  a  solitude ;  that 
dinners  and  balls  abounded,  and  her  uncle  was  invited 
to  them  all. 

"  You  little  goose,  don't  you  see  ?  all  those  invitations 
are  for  your  sake,  not  his ;  if  we  could  look  in  on  him 
now,  we  should  find  him  literally  in  single  cursedness. 
Those  county  folks  are  not  without  cunning.     They  say, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  17 

Beauty  has  come  to  stay  with  the  Beast ;  we  must  ask  the 
Beast  to  dinner,  so  then  Beauty  will  come  along  with 
him.    What  other  pleasure  awaits  you  at  Font  Abbey  ?  " 

"The  pleasure  of  giving  pleasure,"  replied  Lucy, 
apologetically. 

"  Ah !  that  is  your  weakness,  Lucy ;  it  is  all  very  well 
with  those  who  won't  take  advantage ;  but  it  is  the 
wrong  game  to  play  with  all  the  world;  you  will  be 
made  a  tool  of,  and  a  slave  of,  and  use  of.  I  speak  from 
experience ;  you  know  how  I  sacrifice  myself  to  those  I 
love ;  luckily  they  are  not  many." 

"Not  so  many  as  love  you,  dear." 

"  Heaven  forbid !  but  you  are  at  the  head  of  them  all, 
and  I  am  going  to  prove  it  —  by  deeds,  not  words." 

Lucy  looked  up  at  this  additional  feature  in  her  aunt's 
affection. 

"  You  must  go  to  the  great  bear's  den  for  three  months, 
but  it  shall  be  the  last  time  ! "     Lucy  said  nothing. 

"  You  will  return  never  to  quit  us,  or  at  all  events  not 
the  neighborhood." 

"  That  —  would  be  —  nice,"  said  the  courtier,  warmly, 
t)ut  hesitatingly ;  "  but  how  will  you  gain  uncle's  con- 
sent ?  " 

"By  dispensing  with  it." 

"  Yes ;  but  the  means,  aunt  ?  " 

"  A  husband !  " 

Lucy  started  and  colored  all  over,  and  looked  askant 
at  her  aunt  Avith  opening  eyes  like  a  thoroughbred  filly 
just  going  to  start  all  across  the  road.  Mrs.  Bazalgette 
laid  a  loving  hand  on  her  shoulder  and  whispered  know- 
ingly in  her  ear.  "  Trust  to  me,  I'll  have  one  ready  for 
you  against  you  come  back  this  time." 

"No  !  please  don't !  pray  don't !  "  cried  Lucy,  clasping 
her  hands  in  feeble-minded  distress. 

"  In  this  neighborhood,  one  of  the  right  sort." 


18  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

"  I  am  so  liappy  as  I  am." 

"  You  will  be  happier  when  you  are  quite  a  slave ;  and 
so  I  shall  save  you  from  being  snapped  up  by  some 
country  wiseacre ;  and  marry  you  into  our  own  set." 

"  Merchant  princes,"  suggested  Lucy  demurely,  having 
just  recovered  her  breath,  and  what  little  sauce  there 
was  in  her. 

''Yes,  merchant  princes  —  the  men  of  the  age,  the 
men  who  could  buy  all  the  acres  in  the  country  without 
feeling  it  —  the  men  Avho  make  this  little  island  great, 
and  a  woman  happy,  by  letting  her  have  everything  her 
heart  can  desire." 

"  You  mean  everything  that  money  can  buy  ?  " 

"  Of  course.     I  said  so,  didn't  I  ?  " 

"  So  then  you  are  tired  of  me  in  the  house,"  remon- 
strated Lucy  sadly. 

"  No,  ingrate ;  but  you  will  be  sure  to  marry  soon  or 
late." 

''  No,  I  will  not  —  if  I  can  possibly  help  it." 

"  But  you  can't  help  it ;  you  are  not  the  character  to 
help  it.  The  first  man  that  comes  to  you  and  says,  '  I 
know  you  rather  dislike  me '  —  (you  could  not  hate  any- 
body, Lucy),  'but  if  you  don't  take  me  I  shall  die  of  a 
broken  fiddlestick,'  you  will  whine  out,  'Oh,  dear  —  shall 
you  ?  well  then  —  sooner  than  disoblige  —  here  —  take 
me ! ' " 

"  Am  I  so  weak  as  this  ?  "  asked  Lucy,  coloring,  and 
the  water  coming  into  her  eyes. 

"  Don't  be  offended,"  said  the  other  coolly,  "  we  won't 
call  it  weakness,  but  excess  of  complaisance ;  you  can't 
say  no  to  anybody." 

"  Yet  I  have  said  it,"  replied  Lucy,  thoughtfully. 

"  Have  you  ?  when  ?  Oh,  to  me.  Yes  —  Avhere  I  am 
concerned,  you  have  sometimes  a  will  of  your  own,  and 
a  pretty  stout  one  —  but  never  with  anybody  else." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  19 

The  aunt  then  inquired  of  the  niece,  "  frankly  now, 
between  ourselves,"  whether  she  had  no  wish  to  be  mar- 
ried. The  niece  informed  her  in  confidence  that  she  had 
not,  and  was  puzzled  to  conceive  how  the  bare  idea  of 
marriage  came  to  be  so  tempting  to  her  sex.  Of  course 
she  could  understand  a  lady  wishing  to  marry,  if  she 
loved  a  gentleman  who  was  determined  to  be  unhappy 
without  her ;  but  that  women  should  look  about  for  some 
hunter  to  catch,  instead  of  waiting  quietly  till  the  hunter 
caught  them,  this  puzzled  her ;  and  as  for  the  supersti- 
tious love  of  females  for  the  marriage  rite  in  cases  when 
it  took  away  their  liberty  and  gave  them  nothing  amiable 
in  return,  it  amazed  her.  "  So,  aunt,"  she  concluded,  "if 
you  really  love  me,  driving  me  to  the  altar  will  be  an 
unfortunate  way  of  showing  it." 

While  listening  to  this  tirade,  which  the  young  lady 
delivered  with  great  serenity,  and  concluded  with  a  little 
yawn,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  had  two  thoughts ;  the  first  was, 
"  This  girl  is  not  flesh  and  blood ;  she  is  made  of  curds 
and  whey,  or  something ; "  the  second  was,  "  No,  she  is 
a  shade  hypocriticaller  than  other  girls  before  they  are 
married,  that  is  all."  And,  acting  on  this  latter  convic- 
tion she  smiled  a  lofty  incredulity,  and  fell  to  counting 
on  her  fingers  all  the  moneyed  bachelors  for  miles. 

At  this  Lucy  winced  with  sensitive  modesty,  and  for 
once  a  shade  of  vexation  showed  itself  on  her  lovely 
features ;  the  quick-sighted,  keen-witted  matx-on  caught 
it,  and  instantly  made  a  masterly  move  of  feigned 
retreat.  "No,"  cried  she,  "I  will  not  tease  you  any 
more,  love ;  just  promise  me  not  to  receive  any  gentle- 
man's addresses  at  Font  Abbey,  and  I  will  never  drive 
you  from  my  arms  to  the  altar." 

"  I  promise  that,"  cried  Lucy,  eagerly. 

"  Upon  your  honor  ?  " 

"  Upon  my  honor." 


20  LOVE  >IE   LITTLE.    L^jVZ    MZ    !•:  N'G. 

^  Kiss  TOt^^  dear.     I  kv  '"    "     -_::_-- 
yoa  have  pledged  yoDT  b 

soles  me  mine  jdian  yoc  titcl  ■ 

^I  am  so  glad:  b^-t  ■.:;.-  -iiew  howlitUe  it  costs 
me.^ 

"-:  -  ::.:re  likely  to  beep  it," 


Tike  r  tarn.    «*  And 

~1  bevitb- 
ier  nonr,  I 

—  _        -       rising  and 

■^^.-'..-.^  ...  : -  ^-..... .  .:  .-.    -       '  -  ""Te,  does 

it  ?  (ak  !>    Doot^  err,  love, '::"--      ■-  deso- 

late t-     -        ■      .    '        -  —       —  '  * 

little  <:    :-^  ~   .         -  ^    -.    :     :.xe 

^WillTC"  ;—;—-■-.-  ;-■.  I  b— -.  •'- '^    ---"" 

-Mef'l:-  -  -          :  .   -    -          .    -        •  .    -     : 

yc-  .  -,----_  :  ::•:_..:    .   -          _.       . 

jIL:.-  ^..._:  :_..       -  .----_._, 

dajr  yoJCEirself — '-              "  "                                  ^       -~ 


©f  ManrotWTiem  dniioar(c% 


that  waijj^ 


ELKS-  TEELe  SH/.  r  JiaSC  TTV 

ear-  ""'"^  -'  .....^  lS'  tco;  Iikr,  .u^.. 

o^f  .re  sov  fo-r  a  DaCteam.' 


'~;  -i^'f  ~fu  —  "snilfc 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   IVEE   LONG.  21 

"  Shall  j'ou  come  back  through  the  garden  ?  if  you 
don't,  never  mind ;  but,  if  you  do,  you  may  choose  me  a 
bouquet.     The  servants  are  incapable  of  a  bouquet." 

"  I  Avill ;  thank  you,  dear ;  how  kind  and  thoughtful 
of  you  to  give  me  something  to  occupy  me  now  that  I 
am  a  little  sad."  Mrs.  Bazalgette  accepted  this  tribute 
with  a  benignant  smile,  and  the  ladies  parted. 

The  next  morning  a  travelling-carriage  with  four  smok- 
ing post-horses  came  wheeling  round  the  gravel  to  the 
front  door.  Uncle  Fountain's  factotum  got  down  from 
the  dickey,  packed  Lucy's  imperial  on  the  roof,  and 
slung  a  box  below  the  dickey ;  stowed  her  maid  away 
aft,  arranged  the  foot-cushion  and  a  shawl  or  two  inside, 
and,  half  obsequiously,  half  bumptiously,  awaited  the 
descent  of  his  fair  charge. 

Then,  up-stairs,  came  a  sudden  simultaneous  attack  of 
ardent  lips,  and  a  long  clinging  embrace,  that  Avould  have 
graced  the  most  glorious,  passionate,  antique  love.  Sculp- 
ture out-done,  the  young  lady  went  down  and  was  handed 
into  the  carriage.  Her  ardent  aunt  followed  presently, 
and  fired  many  glowing  phrases  in  at  the  window;  and, 
just  as  the  carriage  moved,  she  uttered  a  single  word 
quite  quietly,  as  much  as  to  say,  Now  this  I  mean. 
This  genuine  word,  the  last  Aunt  Bazalgette  spoke,  had 
been,  two  hundred  years  before,  the  last  word  of  Charles 
the  First.     Note  the  coincidences  of  history. 

The  two  post-boys  lifted  their  whips  level  to  their 
eyes  by  one  instinct,  the  horses  tightened  the  traces,  the 
wheels  ground  the  gravel,  and  Lucy  was  whirled  away 
with  that  quiet  emphatic  post-diet  ringing  in  her  ears. 

Remember  I 

Font  Hill  was  sixty  miles  off:  they  reached  it  in  less 
than  six  hours  ;  there  was  Uncle  Fountain  on  the  hall 
steps  to  receive  her,  and  the  comely  housekeeper,  IVIrs. 
Brown,  ducking  and  smiling  in  the  background.     While 


22  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

the  servants  were  unpacking  the  carriage,  Mr.  Fountain 
took  Lucy  to  her  bedroom.  Mrs.  Brown  had  gone  on 
before  to  see  for  the  third  time  whether  all  was  com- 
fortable. There  was  a  huge  fire,  all  red;  and  on  the 
table  a  gigantic  nosegay  of  spring  flowers  with  smell  to 
them  all. 

"Oh,  how  nice  after  a  journey,"  said  Lucy,  mowing 
down  Uncle  Fountain  and  Mrs.  Brown  with  one  compre- 
hensive smile. 

Mrs.  Brown  flamed  with  complacency. 

"  What ! "  cried  her  uncle,  "  I  suppose  you  expected  a 
black  fire  and  impertinent  apologies,  by  way  of  substi- 
tute for  warmth  ;  a  stuffy  room,  and  damp  sheets  roasted, 
like  a  woodcock,  twenty  minutes  before  use." 

"No,  uncle,  dear,  I  expected  every  comfort  at  Font 
Abbey."     Brown  retired  with  a  courtesy. 

"  Aha !  what,  have  you  found  out  that  it  is  all  humbug 
about  old  bachelors  not  knowing  comfort  ?  Do  bache- 
lors ever  put  their  friends  into  damp  sheets  ?  No ;  that 
is  the  women's  trick  with  their  household  science.  Your 
sex  have  killed  more  men  with  damp  sheets  than  ever 
fell  by  the  sword." 

"Yet  nobody  erects  monuments  to  us,"  put  in  Lucy 

slyly. 

She  missed  fire  — Uncle  Fountain,  like  most  English- 
men, could  take  in  a  pun  by  the  ear,  but  wit  only  by  the 
eye.  "  Do  you  remember  when  Mrs.  Bazalgette  put  you 
into  the  linen  sponge,  and  killed  you  ?  " 

"  Killed  me  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  as  far  as  in  her  lay.  We  can  but  do  our 
best  —  well,  she  did  hers,  and  went  the  right  way  to 
work." 

"  You  see,  I  survive." 

"By  a  miracle.      Dinner  is  at  six," 

"  Very  well,  dear." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.       23 

''Yes  :  but  six  in  this  house  means  sixty  minutes  after 
five  and  sixty  minutes  before  seven.  I  mention  this  the 
first  day  because  you  are  just  come  from  a  place  where 
it  means  twenty  minutes  to  seven ;  also  let  me  observe 
that  I  think  I  have  noticed  soup  and  potatoes  eat  better 
hot  than  cold,  and  meat  tastes  nicer  done  to  a  turn 
than  "  — 

"  To  a  cinder  ?  " 

"  Ha  —  ha  !  and  come  with  an  appetite,  please  ! " 

"  Uncle,  no  tyranny,  I  beg." 

"  Tyranny  ?  you  know  this  is  Liberty  Hall :  only  when 
I  eat,  I  expect  my  companion  to  eat  too :  besides,  there 
is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  humbug  to-day.  There  will 
only  be  us  two  at  dinner,  and  when  I  see  young  ladies 
fiddling  with  an  asparagus  head,  instead  of  eating  their 
dinner,  I  don't  fall  into  the  greenhorn's  notion  —  exqui- 
site creature !  all  soul !  no  stomach  !  feeds  on  air,  ideas, 
and  quadrille  music  ;  no ;  what  do  you  think  I  say  ?  " 

"  Something  flattering,  I  feel  sure." 

"  On  the  contrary,  something  true.  I  say,  hypocrite  ! 
been  grubbing  like  a  pig  all  day,  so  can't  eat  like  a 
Christian  at  meal-time  ;  you  can't  humbug  me." 

"  Alas !  so  I  see.  That  decides  me  to  be  candid  — 
and  hungry." 

"  Well,  I  am  off :  I  don't  stick  to  my  friends  and  bore 
them  with  my  affairs  like  that  egotistical  hussy  Jane 
Bazalgette.  I  amuse  myself,  and  leave  them  to  amuse 
themselves,-  that  is  my  notion  of  politeness.  I  am 
going  to  see  my  pigs  fed ;  then  into  the  village.  I  am 
building  a  new  blacksmith's  shop  there ;  (you  must  come 
and  look  at  it  the  first  thing  to-morrow),  and  at  six  if 
you  want  to  find  me  "  — 

"  I  shall  peep  behind  the  soup-tureen." 

"  And  there  I  shall  be  if  I  am  alive." 

At  dinner  the  old  boy  threw  himself   into  the  work 


24  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

with  such  zeal,  that,  soon  after  the  cloth  was  removed, 
from  fatigue  and  repletion  he  dropped  asleep  with  his 
shoulder  towards  Lucy,  but  his  face  instinctively  turned 
towards  the  fire.  Lucy  crept  away  on  tiptoe  not  to 
disturb  him. 

In  about  an  hour  he  bustled  into  the  drawing-room ; 
ordered  tea,  blew  up  the  footman  because  the  cook  had 
not  water  boiling  that  moment ;  drank  three  cups  ;  then 
brightened  up,  rubbed  his  hands,  and,  with  a  cheerful, 
benevolent  manner,  "  Now,  Lucy,"  cried  he,  "  come  and 
help  me  puzzle  out  this  tiresome  genealogy." 

A  smile  of  warm  assent  from  Lucy,  and  the  old  bache- 
lor and  the  blooming  Hebe  were  soon  seated  with  a 
mountain  of  parchments  by  their  side,  and  a  tree  spread- 
ing before  them. 

It  was  not  a  finite  tree  like  an  elm  or  an  oak.  No  — 
it  was  a  banyan-tree ;  covered  an  acre,  and  from  its 
boughs  little  suckers  dropped  to  earth,  and  turned  to 
little  trees,  and  had  suckers  in  their  turn,  and  "  con- 
founded the  confusion." 

Uncle  Fountain's  happiness  depended,  pro  tern,  on 
proving  that  he  was  a  sucker  from  the  great  bough  of 
the  Fontaines  of  Melton :  and  why  ?  Because,  this 
effected,  he  had  only  to  go  along  that  bough  by  an  estab- 
lished pedigree  to  the  great  trunk  of  the  Funteyns  of 
Salle  —  and  the  first  Funteyne  of  Salle  was  said  to  be 
(and  this  he  hoped  to  prove  true)  great-grandson  of 
Robert  de  Fontibus,  son  of  John  de  Fonte. 

Now  Uncle  Fountain  could  prove  himself  the  shoot 
of  George  his  father  (a  step  at  which  so  many  great 
pedigrees  halt),  who  was  the  shoot  of  William,  who  was 
the  shoot  of  Kichard :  but  here  came  a  gap  of  eighty 
years  between  him  and  that  Fountain,  younger  son  of 
Melton,  to  whom  he  wanted  to  hook  on.  Now  the  logic 
of  women,  children,  and  criticasters,  is  a  thing  of  gaps  j 


TWELVE     O  CLOCK     CAME     AND     FOUND     THEM     STILL    WALLOWING     IN 
MODERN    ANTIQUITY. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  25 

they  reason  as  marches  a  kangaroo  :  but,  to  mathemati- 
cians, logicians,  and  genealogists,  a  link  wanting  is  a 
chain  broken.  This  blank  then  made  Uncle  Fountain 
miserable,  and  he  cried  out  for  help.  Lucy  came  with 
her  young  eyes,  her  woman's  patience,  and  her  native 
complaisance.  A  great  ditch  yawned  between  a  croche- 
teer  and  a  rotten  branch  he  coveted.  Our  Quinta  Curtia 
flung  herself,  her  eyesight,  and  her  time  into  that  ditch. 

Twelve  o'clock  came  and  found  them  still  wallowing 
in  modern  antiquity. 

"  Bless  me,"  cried  Mr.  Fountain,  when  John  brought 
in  the  bed-candles,  "  how  time  flies  when  one  is  really 
employed !  " 

"  Yes  indeed,  uncle : "  and  by  a  gymnastic  of  court- 
esy she  first  crushed,  and  then  so  moulded  a  yawn,  that 
it  glided  into  society  a  smile. 

"  We  have  spent  a  delightful  evening,  Lucy." 

"  Thanks  to  you,  uncle." 

"  I  hope  you  will  sleep  well,  child." 

''  I  am  sure  I  shall,  dear,"  said  she  sweetly  and  inad- 
vertently. 


26  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE  ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  LARGE  aspiration  is  a  rarity ;  but  who  has  not  some 
small  ambition,  none  the  less  keen  for  being  narrow  — 
keener  perhaps  ?  Mrs.  Bazalgette  burned  to  be  great  by 
dress ;  Mr.  Fountain,  member  of  a  sex  with  higher  aims, 
aspired  to  be  great  in  the  county. 

Unluckily  his  main  property  was  in  the  funds ;  he  had 

acres  in shire,  but  so  few,  that,  some  years  ago,  its 

lord-lieutenant  declined  to  make  him  an  injustice  of  the 
peace ;  that  functionary  died,  and  on  his  death  the  mor- 
tified aspirant  bought  a  coppice,  christened  it  Spring- 
wood,  and  under  cover  of  this  fringe  to  his  three  meadows 
applied  to  the  new  lord-lieutenant  as  Macduff  approached 
Macbeth :  the  new  man  made  him  a  magistrate ;  so  now 
he  aspired  to  be  a  deputy-lieutenant,  and  attended  all 
the  boards  of  magistrates,  and  turnpike  trusts,  etc.,  and 
brought  up  votes  and  beer  barrels  at  each  election,  and 
in  short  played  all  the  cards  in  his  pack,  Lucy  included, 
to  earn  that  distinction. 

We  may  as  well  confess  that  there  lurked  in  him  a 
half  unconscious  hope  that  some  day  or  other,  in  some 
strange  collision  or  combination  of  parties,  a  man  pro- 
found in  county  business,  zealous  in  county  interests, 
personally  obnoxious  to  nobody,  might  drop  into  the  seat 
of  county  member ;  and,  if  this  should  be,  would  not  he 
have  the  sense  to  hold  his  tongue  upon  the  noisy  ques= 
tions  that  waste  Parliament's  time,  and  the  nation's,  but, 
on  the  first  of  those  periodical  attacks  to  which  the 
wretched  land-owner  is  subject,  wouldn't  he  speak  and 
show  the  difference  between  a  mere  member  of  the 
commons  and  a  member  for  the  county  ? 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  27 

If  any  one  had  asked  this  man  plump  which  is  the 

most  important,  Enghmd  or  shire,  he  woukl  have 

certainly  told  you  England;  but  our  opinions  are  not 
the  notions  we  repeat,  and  can  defend  by  reasons  or  even 
by  facts  :  our  opinions  are  the  notions  we  feel  and  act  on. 
Could  you  have  looked  inside  Mr.  Fountain's  head,  you 
would  have  seen  ideas  corresponding  to  the  following 
diagrams :  — 


Tha  Worui  at  UxTga. 


Mr.  Fountain  courted  the  stomach  of  the  county. 
Without  this,  he  knew,  an  angel  could  not  reach  its 
heart  —  and  here  one  of  his  eccentricities  broke  out. 
He  drew  a  line  in  his  dictatorial  way  between  dinner 
and  feeding-parties.  "A  dinner-party  is  two  rubbers. 
Four  gentlemen  and  four  ladies  sit  round  a  circular 
table;  so  then  each  can  hear  what  any  one  says,  and 
need  not  twist  the  neck  at  every  word.  Foraging-parties 
are  from  fourteen  to  thirty,  set  vip  and  down  a  plank, 


28  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ISIE   LONG. 

each  separated  from  those  he  could  talk  to,  as  effectually 
as  if  the  ocean  rolled  betwixt,  and  bawling  into  one 
person's  ear  amidst  the  din  of  knives,  forks,  and  multi- 
tude. I  go  to  those  long  strings  of  noisy  duets,  because 
I  must;  but  I  give  society  at  home." 

The  county  people  had  just  strength  of  mind  to  like 
the  old  boy's  sociable  dinners,  though  not  to  imitate 
them,  and  an  invitation  from  him  was  very  rarely  de- 
clined when  Lucy  was  with  him. 

And  she  was  in  her  glory.  She  could  carry  complai- 
sance such  a  long  way  at  Font  Abbey  —  she  was  mistress 
of  the  house. 

She  listened  with  a  wonderful  appearance  of  interest 
to  county  matters,  i.e.,  to  minute  scandal  and  infinitesi- 
mal politics,  to  the  county  cricket-match  and  archery 
meeting,  to  the  past  ball  and  the  ball  to  come.  In  the 
drawing-room,  when  a  cold  fit  fell  on  the  coterie,  she 
would  glide  to  one  egotist  after  another,  find  out  the 
monotope,  and  set  the  critter  off  on  it.  Then  might  you 
see  beings  of  straw  kindle  and  emit  sparks  of  small  talk 
as  this  torch  went  round  and  touched  them. 

One  day  old  Fountain  said  to  his  niece  with  a  good- 
humored  sneer,  "  I  have  found  out  why  you  are  such  a 
favorite,  Lucy :  you  have  not  got  a  wish  or  an  opinion 
of  your  own  upon  any  earthly  thing.  You  are  a  mirror 
■ —  a  regular  looking-glass  in  a  handsome  frame,  upon  my 
honor  —  haw!  haw!  haw!  But  never  mind,  a  mirror  is 
more  attractive  than  a  magnet;  see  how  they  all  sidle  up 
to  mine,  and  so  they  do  to  you,  and  always  will,  wher- 
ever you  go."  Lucy  smiled,  but  a  red  flush  flitted  across 
her  brow ;  she  bowed  over  her  work,  and  made  no  reply. 

Uncle  Fountain  chuckled.  He  prided  himself  on  his 
perfect  insight  into  people's  characters.  He  was  one  of 
those  who  can  tell  the  exact  depth  of  the  Atlantic  with 
a  ten- fathom  line. 


LOYE   ]ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  29 

Lucy  was  finishing  her  answer  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette's 
letter,  that  lay  on  the  table ;  that  lady's  postscript  ran 
thus  :  "  Any  wooer  yet  ?  upon  your  honor  ?  " 

She  had  hardly  time  to  fold  her  letter  before  her  uncle 
wanted  her  to  write  five  invitations  to  dinner.  She  was 
immediately  at  his  service,  and  out  of  the  business  arose 
the  following  dialogue  :  — 

"And  who  is  to  be  the  eighth ? " 

"  Oh,  Talboys." 

"No,  uncle,  not  Mr.  Talboys." 

"Not  Mr.  Talboys?  why,  what  earthly  objection  can 
you  have  to  him  ?  "  said  Mr.  Fountain  almost  roughly. 

"  I  ?  none  whatever :  only  you  never  invite  the  same 
person  twice  running,  and  Mr.  Talboys  dined  here  last 
time,  at  least,  I  think  so ;  let  me  examine  my  book — yes 
—  why  he  dined  here  not  only  last  time,  but  the  time 
before.  Whom  shall  we  substitute  ?  three  times  running 
is  too  great  a  distinction  for  any  mere  mortal." 

"Mr.  Talboys,"  replied  the  other  gravely,  "is  one  of 
those  who  confer  distinction  on  his  entertainer ;  he  can 
hardly  receive  it." 

Lucy  opened  her  eyes  :  "  Why,  what  has  he  done  ?  " 

"  He  is  the  oldest  family  in  the  county,  that  is  all," 
replied  Fountain  with  tremendous  irony. 

"  Older  than  yours  ?  than  ours  ?  " 

"  Older  than  ours,"  said  her  uncle  firmly  and  solemnly. 
"  The  Talboys  came  in  with  the  Conqueror,  —  Robert  de 
Fonte  lived  in  Henry  the  Third's  reign  only." 

"Apropos,  where  has  Mr.  Talboys  been  all  this  time, 
that  I  never  met  him  here  before  this  visit  ?  " 

"  He  was  doing  what  his  ancestors  have  done  for  three 
hundred  years  past.  On  attaining  his  majority,  he  made 
a  three  years'  tour  of  Europe  to  rub  off  his  English 
prejudices ;  he  has  returned  the  accomplished  gentleman 
you  see  him." 


30  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

"Mr.  Talboys  dresses  in  good  taste  and  carries  himself 
very  tolerably,"  said  Lucy,  whose  cue  it  now  was  to  see 
the  gentleman's  good  qualities ;  "  still,  three  times  run- 
ning :  consider  the  many  competitors  for  a  seat  at  your 
board." 

"  My  table,  please ;  the  only  one  in  the  county  that  is 
not  a  board.  Never  mind,  Lucy,  so  long  as  Talboys 
does  us  the  honor  to  come,  we  will  make  him  welcome ; 
and,  by  the  way,  I  want  you  to  pay  him  a  little  more 
attention." 

"  Dear  uncle,  have  I  been  so  thoughtless  as  to  neglect 
any  guest  of  yours  ? 

"  No,  my  dear,  you  are  the  pink  of  courtesy ;  but 
Talboys  is  a  little  reserved,  a  man  of  singular  delicacy ; 
he  wants  drawing  out ;  but  he  has  been  in  all  the  courts 
of  Europe,  and  there  are  treasures  of  good  sense  and 
knowledge  in  him,  if  you  will  but  dig  for  them,  ay,  and 
of  feeling,  too." 

"  Of  feeling  ?  are  you  sure,  uncle  ?  " 

"  Positive ;  he  has  the  highest  opinion  of  you." 

"  Indeed  ?  he  never  gave  me  any  reason  to  think  so." 

"  He  has  me,  though ;  which  is  more  to  the  point." 

"  Is  it  ?  " 

"And,  by  the  by,"  said  the  old  boy  slyly,  "that  reminds 
me  I  have  a  note  from  him  in  my  pocket  in  which  you 
are  concerned  —  there  it  is.  Talking  of  notes,  I  had 
better  ring  and  send  your  letter  down,  or  it  will  be  too 
late  for  the  post  —  well  —  what  is  the  matter  ?  you  are 
as  red  as  a  fire  —  ha !  ha !  " 

"  0  uncle  !  now,  how  kind  of  Mr.  Talboys  —  how  very 
kind." 

"'Your  niece  mentioned  the  other  evening  that  she 
was  fond  of  riding,  but  that  your  hunters  are  too  hot  for 
a  lady  to  manage.  There  is  an  animal  here  that  perhaps 
may  suit  her ;  a  quiet  galloway  '  —  0  uncle  !  —  ^  with 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  31 

tolerable  paces.  I  send  him  over  to  you  with  his  side 
saddle,'  —  0  uncle!  —  'and  shall  feel  flattered  if  Miss 
Fountain  will  do  him  the  honor  to  ride  him  faute  de 
mieux.'  Is  not  that  kind  of  Mr.  Talboys  ?  so  consider- 
ate, too.     How  one  may  be  mistaken ! " 

"  In  what  ?  "  cried  Fountain  with  eager  expectation. 

"  I  took  him  for  a  well-bred  nullity." 

"  Well,  now  you  see  he  is  nothing  of  the  kind." 

"  Oh,  no ;  a  quiet  galloway  !  I  will  make  up  for  my 
injustice  when  he  dines  here.  I  was  to  invite  Mr. 
Talboys,  was  I  not  ?  " 

"Of  course." 

Lucy  drew  the  note-paper  to  her,  and,  while  she  was 
writing  Mr.  Talboys  in  the  usual  form,  but  with  a  grate- 
ful smile  dimpling  her  glowing  cheek,  John  answered 
the  bell,  and  Mr.  Fountain  sent  off  her  letter  to  Mrs. 
Bazalgette. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  got  the  letter  in  due  course,  pounced 
like  an  eagle  on  the  postscript  first.  It  ran  thus  — 
"No  wooer  —  upon  my  honor." 

Her  eyes  twinkled  with  exultation  and  small  treachery. 

That  very  afternoon,  for  the  second  time  this  month, 
she  despatched  a  perfumed  note  to  Mr.  Hardie. 

Mr.  Hardie  was  only  son  of  the  greatest  banker  in  the 
great  commercial  city  near  which  the  Bazalgettes  lived. 
The  lady's  reasons  for  courting  him  so  ran  thus,  on  the 
ascending  scale:  he  is  thirty — he  is  a  bachelor  —  his 
father  is  just  dead. 


32  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Lucy  received  Mr.  Talboys  graciously;  but  reserved 
the  pony  for  tlie  drawing-room.  There  she  thanked  him 
with  a  world  of  grace :  and  indeed  the  nag  and  his 
paces  were  a  fruitful  theme,  to  which  she  returned  by 
skilful  detours,  when  all  else  flagged.  Next,  in  com- 
pliance with  her  uncle's  request,  she  dug  for  this  gentle- 
man's treasures.  Hitherto  he  had  not  appeared  to  her 
what  my  Lord  Bacon  calls  "a  full  man : "  for  which  she 
blamed  herself.  "  I  have  not  given  him  a  fair  chance. 
He  is  a  great  traveller ;  I  ought  to  have  shown  more 
curiosity  about  the  countries  he  has  visited,  the  customs, 
the  buildings,  the  works  of  art,  the  costumes,  the  —  oh, 
how  I  should  love  to  travel ! " 

So  now  she  did  question  him  with  a  warm  and  court- 
eous curiosity  ;  and  so  plied  him  that  the  other  ladies 
by  degrees  came  gliding  up  one  by  one,  serpent-like, 
with  genuine  curiosity  and  most  seeming  nonchalance, 
and  Mr.  Talboys  was  the  centre  of  a  circle  of  bright 
eyes.  Miss  Fountain  still  plied  him,  and  the  others 
listened  to  him  with  undisguised  deference,  and  a 
marked  prejudice  in  favor  of  every  word  he  could  utter. 

The  gentleman  saw  this,  and,  instead  of  warming  at 
his  hearers,  and  fighting  hard  against  his  natural  cold- 
ness of  temperament  and  faintness  of  perception,  he 
fell  into  the  quaint  error  of  icing  his  milk-and-water. 
Most  superfluous  congelation !  Talboys  had  really  saun- 
tered Europe  round  with  a  mind  cased  in  non-conductors. 
To  him  nothing  in  all  the  countries  he  visited  had  seemed 
very  beautiful,  or  very  curious ;  and  why  ?  to  admire,  a 


LOVE   RIE    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  33 

man  must  appreciate,  and  the  power  of  appreciating  on 
a  large  scale  is  too  much  akin  to  genius  to  be  common. 
Glowing  descriptions  from  such  a  quarter  as  this  were 
out  of  the  question :  to  describe  loftily,  you  must  have 
admired  humbly. 

The  quiet  and  well-bred  but  genuine  enthusiasm,  with 
which  Lucy  addressed  the  great  traveller,  extracted  cold 
monosyllables :  little  clots  of  indifference ;  she  felt  like 
chipping  an  iceberg :  still  she  persisted,  and  vanity  fired 
the  little  heart,  that  the  Alps  from  the  Jurat,  the  lake 
of  Thun,  the  bay  of  Naples,  the  Jung  Frau,  the  wreck 
of  the  Parthenon,  St.  Peter's,  the  Place  de  Concorde, 
the  square  of  St.  Mark,  Versailles,  the  Alhambra,  the 
Apollo  Belvidere,  the  Madonna  of  the  Chair,  and  all  the 
glories  of  nature  and  the  feats  of  art  could  not  warm. 
So  then  the  fine  gentleman  began  to  act :  to  walk  him- 
self out  as  a  person  who  had  seen  and  could  give  details 
about  anything,  but  was  exalted  far  above  admiring 
anything  (^Quel  grand  homme  !  rien  ne  i:)eut  lid  plaire!), 
and,  on  this,  while  the  women  were  gazing  sweetly  on 
him,  and  revering  his  superiority  to  all  great  impres- 
sions, and  the  men  envying,  rather  hating,  but  secretly 
admiring  him  too,  she,  who  had  launched  him,  bent 
on  him  a  look  of  soft  pity  and  abandoned  him  to 
admiration. 

"  Poor  Mr.  Talboys."  thought  she,  "  I  fear  I  have  done 
him  an  ill  turn  by  drawing  him  out,"  and  she  glided  to 
her  uncle,  who  was  sitting  apart  and  nobody  talking  to 
him. 

Mr.  Talboys,  started  by  Lucy,  ambled  out  his  high- 
pacing  nil  admira7item  character,  and  derived  a  little 
quiet  self-satisfaction.  This  was  the  highest  happiness 
he  was  capable  of;  so  he  was  not  ungrateful  to  Miss 
Fountain,  who  had  procured  it  him,  and  partly  for  this, 
partly  because  he  had  been  kind  to  her  and  lent  her  a 


34  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ]VrE   LONG. 

pony,  he  shook  hands  with  her  somewhat  cordially  at 
parting.     As  it  happened,  he  was  the  last  guest. 

"You  have  won  that  man's  heart,  Lucy,"  cried  Mr. 
Fountain  with  a  mixture  of  surprise  and  pride. 

Lucy  made  no  reply.  She  looked  quickly  into  his 
face  to  see  if  he  was  jesting. 

"  Writing,  Lucy  ?  so  late." 

"  Only  a  few  lines,  uncle.  You  shall  see  them  :  I  note 
the  more  remarkable  phenomena  of  society.  I  am  recall- 
ing a  conversation  between  three  of  our  guests  this 
evening  and  shall  be  grateful  for  your  opinion  on  it. 
There.     Eead  it  out,  please." 

Mrs.  Lidtrdl.  We  missed  you  at  the  archery  meeting,  ha ! 
ha!  ha! 

Mrs.  Willis.  Mr.  Willis  would  not  let  me  go,  —  he!  he! 
he! 

Mrs.  James.  Well,  at  all  events  —  he  !  he !  —  you  will  come 
to  the  flower-show. 

Mrs.  Willis.     Oh  yes  !  —  he  !  he  !  —  I  mn  so  fo?id  of  flowers 

—  ha!  ha! 

Mrs.  Luttrell.     So  am  I.     I  adore  them,  — he  !  he  ! 
Mrs.  Willis.     How  sweetly  Miss  Malcolm  sings,  —  he!  he! 
Mrs.  Luttrell.     Yes,  she  shakes  like  a  bird,  —  ha !  ha ! 
Mrs.  James.     A  little  Scotch  accent  though,  —  he  !  he ! 
Mrs.  Luttrell.     She  is  Scotch,  —  he  !  lie  !     (To  John  off"ering 
her  tea)  No  more,  thank  you,  — he  !  he  ! 

Mrs.  James.     Shall  you  go  to  the  assize  sermon  ?  —  ha !  ha ! 
Mrs.  Willis.     Oh  yes  !  —  he  !  he  !  —  the  last  was  very  dry, 

—  he  !  he  !     Who  preaches  it  this  term  ?  —  he  ! 
Mrs.  James.     The  Bishop  —  he  !  he  ! 

Mrs.  Willis.  Then  I  shall  certainly  go :  he  is  such  a  dear 
preacher,  —  he  !  he ! 

"  Just  tell  me  what  is  the  precise  meaning  of  '  ha ! 
ha ! '  and  what  of  '  he  !  he  ! ' " 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  35 

^'The  precise  meaning?  there  you  puzzle  me,  uncle." 

"  I  mean,  what  do  you  mean  by  them  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  put  '  ha !  ha ! '  when  they  giggled,  and  '  he  ! 
he  ! '  when  they  only  chuckled." 

"  Then  this  is  a  caricature,  my  lady." 

"  No,  dear ;  you  know  I  have  no  satire  in  me ;  it  is 
taken  down  to  the  letter,  and  I  fear  I  must  trouble  you 
for  the  solution." 

"Well  the  solution  is,  they  are  three  fools." 

"No,  uncle,  begging  your  pardon,  they  are  not," 
replied  Lucy  politely  but  firmly. 

"  Well  then,  —  three  d d  fools." 

Lucy  winced  at  the  participle,  but  was  too  polite  to 
lecture  her  elder.  "They  have  not  that  excuse,"  said 
she  :  "they  are  all  sensible  women,  who  discharge  all  the 
duties  of  life  with  discretion,  except  society :  and  they 
can  discriminate  between  grave  and  gay  whenever  they 
are  not  at  a  party ;  and  as  for  Mrs.  Luttrell,  when  she  is 
alone  with  me  she  is  a  SAveet,  natural  love." 

"  They  cackled  —  at  every  word  —  like  that  —  the 
whole  evening  ?  " 

"  Except  when  you  told  that  funny  story  about  the 
Irish  corporal  who  was  attacked  by  a  mastiff,  and  killed 
him  with  his  halbert,  and  when  he  was  reproached  by 
his  captain  for  not  being  content  to  repel  so  valuable  an 
animal  with  the  butt-end  of  his  lance,  answered,  — 
*ha,  ha!'" 

"  So  then  he  answered  '  haw,  haw ! '  did  he  ?  " 

"  Now,  uncle  !  No,  he  answered,  '  So  I  would,  your 
Arnr,  if  he  had  run  at  me  with  his  tail ! '  Now  that  was 
genuine  wit  mixed  with  quite  enough  fun  to  make  an 
intelligent  person  laugh ;  and  then  you  told  it  so  drolly, 
ha,  ha ! " 

"  They  did  not  laugh  at  that  ?  " 

"Sat  as  grave  as  judges." 


36  "  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  And  you  tell  me  tliey  are  not  fools." 

"I  must  repeat,  they  have  not  that  excuse;  perhaps 
their  risibility  had  been  exhausted  :  after  laughing  three 
hours  apropos  de  rien,  it  is  time  to  be  serious  out  of 
place.  I  will  tell  you  what  they  did  laugh  at  though  — 
Miss  Malcolm  sang  a  song  with  a  title  I  dare  not 
attempt.  There  are  two  lines  in  it  which  I  am  going 
to  mispronounce,  but  you  are  not  Scotch,  so  I  don't  care 
for  you,  uncle  darling. 

'  He  had  but  a  saxpence  :  he  bi*ake  it  in  twa, 
And  he  gave  me  the  half  o't  when  he  gaed  awa.' 

They  laughed  at  that :  a  general  giggle  went  round." 

'•  Well,  I  must  confess  I  don't  see  much  to  laugh  at  in 
that,  Lucy." 

"  It  would  be  odd  if  you  did,  uncle  dear ;  why,  it  is 
pathetic." 

''Pathetic?     Oh,  is  it?" 

"  You  naughty  cunning  uncle,  you  know  it  is  —  it  is 
pathetic,  and  almost  heroic  —  consider,  dear :  in  a  world 
where  the  very  newspapers  show  how  mercenary  we  all 
are,  a  poor  young  man  is  parted  from  his  love :  he  has 
but  one  coin  to  go  through  the  world  with,  and  what 
does  he  do  with  it  ?  scheme  to  make  the  sixpence  a 
crown  and  to  make  the  crown  a  pound  ?  no :  he  breaks 
this  one  treasure  in  two,  that  both  the  poor  things  may 
have  a  silver  token  of  love  and  a  pledge  of  his  return. 
I  am  sure  if  the  poet  had  been  here,  he  would  have  been 
quite  angry  with  us  for  laughing  at  that  line." 

"  Keep  your  temper  !  why,  this  is  new  from  you,  Lucy  : 
but  you  women  of  sugar  can  all  cauterize  your  own  sex  : 
the  theme  inspires  you." 

"  Uncle  !  how  dare  you  !  are  you  not  afraid  I  shall  be 
angry  one  of  these  days  ?  The  gentlemen  were  equally 
concerned  in  this  last  enormity.    Poor  Jemmy,  or  Jammy, 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  37 

with  his  devotion  and  tenderness  that  soothed,  and  his 
high  spirit  that  supported  the  weaker  vessel,  were  ai 
funny  to  our  male  as  to  our  female  guests  —  so  there. 
I  saw  but  one  that  understood  him,  and  did  not  laugh  at 
him." 

"Talboys,  for  a  pound." 

"  Mr.  Talboys  ?  no  !  you,  dear  uncle,  you  did  not  laugh. 
I  noticed  it  with  all  a  niece's  pride." 

"  Of  course  I  didn't.  Can  I  hear  a  word  these  ladies 
mew  ?  can  I  tell  in  what  language  even  they  are  whining 
and  miauling  ?  I  have  given  up  trying  this  twenty  years 
and  more." 

"  I  return  to  my  question,"  said  Lucy  hastily. 

"  And  I  to  my  solution ;  your  three  graces  are  three 
deed  fools.  If  you  can  account  for  it  in  any  other  way, 
do." 

"  No,  uncle  dear :  if  you  had  happened  to  agree  with 
me  beforehand,  I  would ;  but,  as  you  do  not,  I  beg  to  be 
excused.  But  keep  the  paper,  and  the  next  time  listen 
to  the  talk  and  the  unmeaning  laughter ;  you  will  find 
I  have  not  exaggerated,  and  some  day,  dear,  I  will  tell 
you  how  my  mamma  used  to  account  for  similar  mon- 
strosities in  society." 

"  Here  is  a  mysterious  little  toad.  Well,  Lucy,  for  all 
this  you  enjoyed  yourself.  I  never  saw  you  in  better 
spirits." 

"  I  am  glad  you  saw  that,"  said  Lucy  with  a  languid 
smile. 

"  And  how  Talboys  came  out." 

"  He  did,"  sighed  Lucy. 

Here  the  young  lady  lighted  softly  on  an  ottoman  and 
sank  gracefully  back  with  a  weary -o'-the-world  air :  and 
when  she  had  settled  down  like  so  much  floss  silk,  fixing 
her  eyes  on  the  ceiling  and  doling  her  words  out  lan- 
guidly yet  thoughtfully  —  just  above  a  whisper  —  "  Uncle 


38       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

darling,"  inquired  she,  "  wliere  are  the  men  we  have  all 
heard  of  ?  " 

"  How  should  I  know  ?     What  men  ?  " 

"  Where  are  the  men  of  sentiment,  that  can  understand 
a  woman,  and  win  her  to  reveal  her  real  heart,  the  best 
treasure  she  has,  uncle  dear  ?  "  She  paused  for  a  reply : 
none  coming,  she  continued  with  decreasing  energy :  — 

"  Where  are  the  men  of  spirit  ?  the  men  of  action  ? 
the  upright,  downright  men,  that  heaven  sends  to  cure 
us  of  our  disingenuousness  ?  Where  are  the  heroes  and 
the  wits  ?  "  (an  infinitesimal  yawn)  "  where  are  the  real 
men  ?  And  where  are  the  women  to  whom  such  men 
can  do  homage  without  degrading  themselves  ?  where 
are  the  men  who  elevate  a  woman  without  making  hex 
masculine,  and  the  women  who  can  brighten  and  polish 
and  yet  not  soften  the  steel  of  manhood  —  tell  me,  tell 
me  instantly,"  said  she  with  still  great  languor  and  want 
of  earnestness,  and  her  eyes  remained  fixed  on  the  ceiling, 
in  deep  abstraction. 

"  They  are  all  in  this  house  at  this  moment,"  said  Mr. 
Fountain  coolly. 

"  Who,  dear  ?  I  fear  I  was  not  attending  to  you. 
How  rude !  " 

"  Horrid.  I  say  the  men  and  women  you  inquire  for 
are  all  in  this  house  of  mine ;  "  and  the  old  gentleman's 
eyes  twinkled. 

"  Uncle  !     Heaven  forgive  you,  and  —  oh,  fie  ! " 

"They  are,  upon  my  soul." 

"  Then  they  must  be  in  some  part  of  it  I  have  not 
visited  —  are  they  in  the  kitchen  ?  "  (with  a  little  saucy 
sneer). 

"No,  they  are  iu  the  library." 

"  In  the  lib —  ah,  le  malin  !  " 

"  They  were  never  seen  iu  a  drawing-room  and  never 
vill." 


LOVE   ]SIE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  39 

"•Yet  surely  they  must  have  lived  in  nature  before 
they  were  embalmed  in  print,"  said  Lucy,  interrogating 
the  ceiling  again. 

"  The  nearest  approach  you  will  meet  to  these  paragons 
is  Eeginald  Talboys/'  said  Fountain,  stoutly. 

"  Uncle,  I  do  love  you ; "  and  Lucy  rose  with  Juno- 
like slowness  and  dignity,  and  leaning  over  the  old  boy, 
kissed  him  with  sudden  small  fury. 

"Why  ?"  asked  he,  eagerly,  connecting  this  majestic 
squirt  of  affection  with  his  last  speech. 

"  Because  you  are  such  a  nice,  dear,  sarcastic  thing. 
Let  us  drink  tea  in  the  library  to-morrow ;  then  that 
will  be  an  approach  to  "  — 

With  this  illegitimate  full-stop  the  conversation  ended, 
and  Miss  Fountain  took  a  candle  and  sauntered  to  bed. 

In  church  next  Sunday,  Lucy  observed  a  young  lady 
with  a  beaming  face,  who  eyed  her  by  stealth  in  all  the 
interstices  of  devotion.  She  asked  her  uncle  who  was 
that  pretty  girl  with  a  nez  retrousse. 

"  A  cocked  nose  ?  it  must  be  my  little  friend,  Eve 
Dodd.     I  didn't  know  she  was  come  back." 

"  What  a  pretty  face  to  be  in  such  —  such  a  —  such  an 
impossible  bonnet !  It  has  come  down  from  another 
epoch."  This  not  maliciously,  but  with  a  sort  of  tender 
womanly  concern  for  beauty  set  off  to  the  most  dis- 
advantage. 

"  Oh,  hang  her  bonnet !  she  is  full  of  fun ;  she  shall 
drink  tea  with  us ;  she  is  a  great  favorite  of  mine." 

They  quickened  their  pace  and  caught  Eve  Dodd  just 
as  she  took  a  flying  leap  over  some  water  that  lay  in  her 
pathj  and  showed  a  charming  ankle  ;  in  those  days  female 
dress  committed  two  errors  that  are  disappearing :  it 
revealed  the  whole  foot  by  day,  and  hid  a  section  of  the 
bosom  at  night. 

After  the  usual  greetings  Mr.  Fountain  asked  Eve  if 


40  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

she  would  come  over  aud  driuk  tea  with  him  aud'his 
niece. 

Miss  Dodd  colored  and  cast  a  glance  of  undisguised 
admiration  at  Miss  Fountain,  but  she  said,  "  Thank  you, 
sir,  I  am  much  obliged,  but  I  am  afraid  I  can't  come  ; 
my  brother  would  miss  me." 

''  What  ?  the  sailor  ?  is  he  at  home  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  came  home  last  night,"  and  she  clapped  her 
hands  by  way  of  comment.  "  He  has  been  with  my 
mother  all  church  time ;  so  now  it  is  my  turn,  and  I 
don't  know  how  to  let  him  out  of  my  sight  yet  awhile." 
And  she  gave  a  glance  at  Miss  Fountain  as  much  as  to 
say,  "  You  understand." 

"Well,  Eve,"  said  Mr.  Fountain  good-humoredly,  "we 
must  not  separate  brother  and  sister,"  and  he  was  turning 
to  go. 

"Perhaps,  uncle,"  said  Lucy,  looking  not  at  Mr. 
Fountain  but  at  Eve,  "Mr.  —  Mr."  — 

"  David  Dodd  is  my  brother's  name,"  said  Eve  quickly. 

"  Mr.  David  Dodd  might  be  persuaded  to  give  us  the 
pleasure  of  his  company  too." 

"  Oh,  yes,  if  I  may  bring  dear  David  with  me,"  burst 
out  the  child  of  nature,  coloring  again  with  pleasure. 

"  It  will  add  to  the  obligation,"  said  Lucy,  finishing 
the  sentence  in  character. 

"  So  that  is  settled,"  said  Mr.  Fountain  somewhat 
dryly. 

As  we  were  walking  home  together  the  courtier  asked 
her  uncle  rather  coldly,  — "  Who  are  these  we  have 
invited,  dear?" 

"  Who  are  they  ?  A  pretty  girl  and  a  man  she  wouldn't 
come  without." 

"  And  who  is  the  gentleman  ?  what  is  he  ?  " 

"  A  marine  animal :  first  mate  of  a  ship." 

"  First  mate  ?  mate  ?  is  that  what  in  the  novels  is 
called  boatswain's  mate  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  41 

"  Haw,  haw,  haw !  I  say,  Lucy,  ask  him  when  he 
comes  if  he  is  the  bosen's  mate  ?  how  little  Eve  will 
blaze !  " 

"Then  I  shall  ask  him  nothing  of  the  kind;  do  tell 
me  !  —  I  know  admirals  —  they  swear  —  and  captains, 
and,  I  think,  lieutenants,  and,  above  all,  those  little  loves 
of  midshipmen,  strutting  with  their  dirks  and  cocked 
hats,  like  warlike  bantams  ;  but  I  never  met  '  mates.' 
Mates  ?  " 

"  That  is  because  you  have  only  been  introduced  to 
the  Royal  iSTavy :  but  there  is  another  navy  not  so 
ornamental,  but  quite  as  useful,  called  the  East  India 
Company's." 

"I  am  ashamed  to  say  I  never  heard  of  it." 

"  I  dare  say  not.  Well,  in  this  navy  there  are  only 
two  kinds  of  superior  officers  —  the  mates,  and  the  cap- 
tain. There  are  five  or  six  mates.  Young  Dodd  has 
been  first  mate  some  time,  so  I  suppose  he  will  soon  be  a 
captain." 

"  Uncle !  " 

"  Well." 

"  Will  this  —  mate  —  swear  ?  " 

''  Clearly." 

"  There  now.  I  do  not  like  swearing  on  a  Sunday. 
That  wicked  old  admiral  used  to  make  me  shudder." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mr.  Fountain,  playing  upon  innocence,  "  he 
swore  by  the  Supreme  Being,  I  bet  sixpence." 

"Yes,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  low  soft  voice  of  angelic  regret. 

"  Ah,  he  was  in  the  Royal  ISTavy.  But  this  is  a  mer- 
chantman ;  you  don't  think  he  will  presume  to  break 
into  the  monopoly  of  the  superior  branch.  He  will  only 
swear  by  the  wind  and  the  weather.  Thunder  and 
squalls !  Donner  and  blitzen !  Handspikes  and  hal- 
yards !  these  are  the  innocent  execrations  of  the  merchant 
service  —  he,  he  !  ho  !  " 


42  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

''  Uncle,  can  you  be  serious  ?  "  asked  Lucy  somewhat 
coldly ;  "  if  so,  be  so  good  as  to  tell  me,  is  this  gentleman 
—  a  —  gentleman  ?  " 

'^  Well,"  replied  the  other  coolly,  "  he  is  what  I  call 
a  nondescript :  like  an  attorney,  or  a  surgeon,  or  a  civil- 
engineer,  or  a  banker,  or  a  stock-broker,  and  all  that  sort 
of  people.  He  can  be  a  gentleman  if  he  is  thoroughly 
bent  on  it ;  you  would  in  his  place,  and  so  should  I ;  but 
these  skippers  don't  turn  their  mind  that  way.  Old 
families  don't  go  into  the  merchant-service.  Indeed,  it 
would  not  answer.  There  they  rise  by  —  by — mere 
maritime  considerations." 

"  Then,  uncle,"  began  Lucy,  Avith  dignified  severity, 
"■  permit  me  to  say  that  in  inviting  a  nondescript  —  you 
showed  —  less  consideration  for  me  than  —  you — are  in 
the  habit  —  of  doing,  dearest." 

"  Well,  have  a  headache  and  can't  come  down." 

"  So  I  certainly  should  ;  but  most  vinfortunately  I  have 
an  objection  to  telling  fibs  on  a  Sunday." 

"  You  are  quite  right ;  we  should  rest  from  our  usual 
employments  one  day,  ha  —  ha  !  and  so  go  at  it  fresher 
to-morrow,  haw !  ho !  Come,  Lucy,  don't  you  be  so 
exclusive.  Eve  Dodd  is  a  merry  girl ;  she  comes  and 
amuses  me  when  you  are  not  here  ;  and  David  by  all 
accounts  is  a  fine  young  fellow,  and  as  modest  as  a  girl 
of  fifteen  ;  they  will  make  me  laugh,  especially  Eve,  and 
it  would  be  hard  at  my  age,  I  think,  if  I  might  not  ask 
who  I  like  — to  tea." 

''  So  it  would,"  put  in  Lucy  hastily  :  she  added  coax- 
ing, "  it  shall  have  its  own  way,  it  shall  have  what  makes 
it  laugh." 

Long  before  eight  o'clock  the  Fountains  had  forgotten 
that  they  had  invited  the  Dodds. 

Not  so  Eve.  She  was  all  in  a  flutter,  and  hesitated 
between  two  dresses,  and  by  some  blessed  inspiration 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   :ME   LONG.  43 

decided  for  the  plainest ;  but  her  principal  anxiety  was 
not  about  herself,  but  about  David's  deportment  before 
the  Queen  of  Fashion  ;  for  such  report  proclaimed  Miss 
Fountain.  "  And  those  fine  ladies  are  so  satirical,"  said 
Eve  to  herself ;  "  but  I  will  lecture  him  going  along." 

Dinner-time,  and  by  consequence  tea-time,  came  earlier 
in  those  days.  So  about  eight  o'clock  a  tall  square- 
shouldered  young  fellow  was  walking  in  the  moonlight 
towards  Font  Abbey ;  Eve  holding  his  hand  and  tripping 
by  his  side,  and  lecturing  him  on  deportment  very  gravely 
wliile  dancing  round  him  and  pulling  him  all  manner  of 
Avays,  like  your  solid  tune  with  your  gambolling  accom- 
paniment, a  combination  now  in  vogue.  All  of  a  sudden, 
without  your  leave,  or  by  your  leave,  the  said  David 
caught  this  light  fantastic  object  up  in  his  arms  and 
carried  it  on  one  shoulder. 

On  this  she  gave  one  little  squeak,  then,  without  a 
moment's  interval,  continued  her  lecture  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  She  looked  down  from  her  perch,  like  a 
hen  from  a  ladder,  and  laid  down  the  law  to  David  with 
seriousness  and  asperity. 

"And  just  please  to  remember  that  they  are  people 
a  long  way  above  us,  at  least  above  what  we  are  now 
since  father  fell  into  trouble,  so  don't  you  make  too  free  ; 
and  Miss  Fountain  is  the  finest  of  all  the  fine  ladies  in 
the  county." 

"  Then  I  am  sorry  we  are  going." 

"  No,  you  are  not ;  she  is  a  beautiful  girl." 

"  That  alters  the  case." 

"  No,  it  does  not :  don't  chatter  so,  David,  interrupting 
forever,  but  listen,  and  mind  what  I  say,  or  I'll  never 
take  you  anywhere  again." 

"  Are  you  sure  you  are  taking  me  now  ?  "  asked  David 
dryly. 

"Why  not,  Mr.  David?"  retorted  Eve  from  his  shoul- 


44  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

der.  "  Didn't  I  hear  you  tell  how  you  took  the  Com- 
bermere  out  of  harbor,  and  how  you  brought  her  into 
port :  she  didn't  take  you  out  and  bring  you  home,  eh  ?  " 

"  Had  me  there,  though." 

"  Yes,  and  what  is  more,  you  are  not  skipper  of  the 
Combermere  yet ;  and  never  will  be ;  but  I  am  skipper 
of  you." 

"  Ashore ;  not  a  doubt  of  it,"  said  David  with  cool 
indifference.  He  despised  terrestrial  distinction,  court- 
ing only  such  as  was  marine. 

"  Then  I  command  you  to  let  me  down  this  instant : 
do  you  hear,  crew  ?  " 

"  No,"  objected  David,  "  if  I  put  you  overboard  you 
can't  command  the  vessel,  and  ten  to  one  if  the  craft 
does  not  founder  for  want  of  seawomanship  on  the  quar- 
ter-deck. However,"  added  he  in  a  relenting  tone,  "wait 
till  we  get  to  that  puddle  shining  on  ahead,  and  there 
I'll  disembark  you." 

"  No,  David,  do  let  me  down,  that  is  a  good  soul  —  I 
am  tired,"  added  she  peevishly. 

"Tired!  of  what?" 

"Of  doing  nothing,  stupid  —  there,  let  me  down,  dear; 
won't  you,  darling  ?  then  take  that,  love  "  (a  box  on  the 
ear). 

"  Well,  I've  got  it,"  said  David  dryly. 

"  Keep  it  then,  till  the  next :  no,  he  won't  let  me  down 
—  now  he  has  got  both  my  hands  in  one  of  his  paws, 
and  he  will  carry  me  every  foot  of  the  way  now,  I  know, 
the  obstinate  pig." 

"  We  all  have  our  little  characters,  Eve.  Well,  I  have 
got  your  wrists,  but  you  have  got  your  tongue,  and  that 
is  the  stronger  weapon  of  the  two,  you  know,  and  you  are 
on  the  poop ;  so  give  your  orders,  and  the  ship  shall  be 
worked  accordingly — likeAvise  I  will  enter  all  your 
remarks  on  good  breeding  into  my  log." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  45 

Here  unluckily  David  tapped  his  forehead  to  signify 
that  the  log  in  question  was  a  metaphorical  one,  the  log 
of  memory.  Eve  had  him  again  directly.  She  freed  a 
claw.  "  So  this  is  your  log,  is  it  ?  "  cried  she,  tapping  it 
as  hard  as  she  could ;  "  well,  it  does  sound  like  wood  of 
some  sort.  Well,  then,  David,  dear,  you  wretch,  I  mean, 
promise  me  not  to  laugh  loud." 

"  Well,  I  will  not :  it  is  odds  if  I  laugh  at  all.  I  wish 
we  were  to  moor  alongside  mother  instead  of  running 
into  this  strange  port." 

"  Stuff !  think  of  Miss  Fountain's  figure-head  —  nor 
tell  too  many  stories  —  and  above  all,  for  heaven's  sake 
do  keep  the  poor  dear  old  sea  out  of  sight  for  once." 

"  Ay,  ay,  that  stands  to  reason." 

By  this  time  they  were  at  Font  Abbey,  and  David 
deposited  his  fair  burden  gently  on  the  stone  steps  of 
the  door :  she  opened  it  without  ceremony,  and  bustled 
into  the  dining-room  crying,  "  I  have  brought  David,  sir, 
and  here  he  is,"  and  she  accompanied  David's  bow  with 
a  corresponding  movement  of  her  hand,  the  knuckles 
downwards. 

The  old  gentleman  awoke  with  a  start,  rubbed  his 
eyes,  shook  hands  with  the  pair,  and  proposed  to  go  up 
to  Lucy  in  the  drawing-room. 

Now  it  happened  unluckily  that  Miss  Fountain  had 
been  to  the  library  and  taken  down  one  or  two  of  those 
men  and  women  who  according  to  her  uncle  exist  only 
on  paper,  and  certain  it  is  she  was  in  charming  company, 
when  she  heard  her  visitors'  steps  and  voices  coming  up 
the  stairs.  Had  those  visitors  seen  the  vexed  expression 
of  her  face  as  she  laid  down  the  book,  they  would  have 
instantly  'bout  ship  and  home  again  ;  but  that  sour  look 
dissolved  away  as  they  came  through  the  open  door. 

On  coming  in  they  saw  a  young  lady  seated  on  a  sofa. 

Apparently  she  did  not  see  them  enter :  her  face  hap' 


46  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

pened  to  be  averted  ;  but  ere  they  had  taken  three  steps 
slie  turned  her  face,  saw  them,  rose  and  took  two  steps 
to  meet  them,  all  beaming  with  courtesy,  kindness,  and 
quiet  satisfaction,  at  their  arrival. 

She  gave  her  hand  to  Eve. 

"  This  is  my  brother.  Miss  Fountain." 

Miss  Fountain  instantly  swept  David  a  courtesy  with 
such  a  grace  and  flow,  coupled  with  an  engaging  smile, 
that  the  sailor  was  fascinated  and  gazed  instead  of 
bowing. 

Eve  had  her  finger  ready  to  poke  him,  when  he  recov- 
ered himself  and  bowed  low. 

Eve  played  the  accompaniment  with  her  hand,  knuck- 
les clown. 

They  sat  down ;  cups  of  tea,  etc.,  were  brought  round 
to  each  by  John.  It  was  bad  tea  —  made  out  of  the 
room  —  catch  a  human  being  making  good  tea  in  which 
it  is  not  to  share. 

Mr.  Fountain  was  only  half  awake. 

Eve  was  more  or  less  awed  by  Lucy ;  David,  tutored 
by  Eve,  held  his  tongue  altogether,  or  gave  short  answers. 

"This  must  be  what  the  novels  call  a  sea-cub," 
thought  Miss  Fountain. 

The  fiends.  Propriety  and  Restraint,  presided  over  the 
innocent  banquet,  and  a  dismal  evening  set  in. 

The  first  infraction  of  this  polite  tranquillity  came,  I 
blush  to  say,  from  the  descendant  of  John  de  Fonte. 
He  exploded  in  a  yawn  of  magnitude ;  to  cover  this  the 
young  lady  began  hastily  to  play  her  old  game  of  setting 
people  astride  their  topic,  and  she  selected  David  Dodd 
for  the  experiment.  She  put  on  a  warm  curiosity  about 
the  sea,  and  ships,  and  the  countries  men  visit  in  them. 
Then  occurred  a  droll  phenomenon  :  David  flashed  with 
animation,  and  began  full  and  intelligent  answers ;  then 
catching  his  sister's  eye  came  to  unnatural  full  stops  j 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  47 

and  so  warmly  and  skilfully  was  he  pressed  that  it  cost 
him  a  gigantic  effort  to  avoid  giving  much  amusement 
and  instruction.  The  courtier  saw  this  hesitation,  and 
the  vivid  flashes  of  intelligence,  and  would  not  lose  her 
prey.  She  drew  him  with  all  a  woman's  tact  and  with 
a  warmth  so  well  feigned  that  it  set  him  on  real  fire. 
His  instinct  of  politeness  would  not  let  him  go  on  all 
night  giving  short  answers  to  inquiring  beauty.  He 
turned  his  eye,  which  glowed  now  like  live  coal,  towards 
that  enticing  voice,  and  presently,  like  a  ship  that  has 
been  hanging  over  the  water  ever  so  long  on  the  last 
rollers,  with  one  gallant  glide  he  took  the  sea  and  towed 
them  all  like  little  cockle-boats  in  his  wake.  From  sea 
to  sea,  from  port  to  port,  from  tribe  to  tribe,  from  peril  to 
peril,  from  feat  to  feat,  David  whirled  his  wonder-struck 
hearers,  and  held  them  panting  by  the  quadruple  magie 
of  a  tuneful  voice,  a  changing  eye,  an  ardent  soul,  and 
truth  at  first-hand. 

They  sat  thrilled  and  surprised,  most  of  all  Miss 
Fountain.  To  her  things  great  and  real  had  up  to  that 
moment  been  mere  vague  outlines  seen  through  a  mist. 
Moreover  her  habitual  courtesy  had  hitherto  drawn  out 
pumps  :  but  now,  when  least  expected,  all  in  a  moment, 
as  a  spark  fires  powder,  it  let  off  a  man. 

A  sailor  is  a  live  book  of  travels.  Check  your  own 
vanity  (if  you  possibly  can),  and  set  him  talking,  you 
shall  find  him  full  of  curious  and  profitable  matter. 

The  Fountains  did  not  know  this,  and,  even  if  they 
had,  Dodd  would  have  taken  them  by  surprise ;  for 
besides  being  a  sailor  and  a  sea-enthusiast,  he  was  a 
fellow  of  great  capacity  and  mental  vigor. 

He  had  not  skimmed  so  many  books  as  we  have  ;  but 
I  fear  he  had  sucked  more.  However,  his  main  strength 
did  not  lie  there  —  he  was  not  a  paper  man,  and  this  — 
oh  men  of    paper,    and   oh  C.  R.   in   particular  —  gave 


48  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

him  a  tremendous  advantage  over  you  that  Sunday 
evening. 

The  man  whose  knowledge  all  comes  from  reading 
accumulates  a  great  number  of  what  ?  facts  ?  no,  of  the 
shadows  of  facts ;  shadows,  often  so  thin,  indistinct,  and 
featureless,  that,  when  one  of  the  facts  themselves  runs 
against  him  in  real  life,  he  does  not  know  his  old  friend, 
round  about  which  he  has  written  a  smart  leader  in 
a  journal,  and  a  ponderous  trifle  in  the  Polysyllabic 
Review. 

But  this  sailor  had  stowed  into  his  mental  hold  not 
fact-shadows,  but  the  glowing  facts  all  alive  0.  For 
thirteen  years,  man  and  boy,  he  had  beat  about  the  globe, 
with  real  eyes,  real  ears,  and  real  brains  ever  at  work. 
He  had  drunk  living  knowledge  like  a  fish,  and  at 
fountain-heads. 

Yet  to  utter  intellectual  wealth  nobly,  two  things  more 
are  indispensable,  the  gift  of  language  and  a  tunable 
voice,  which  last  does  not  always  come  by  talking  with 
tempests. 

Well  David  Dodd  had  sucked  in  a  good  deal  of  lan- 
guage from  books  and  tongues ;  not  indeed  the  Norman- 
French  and  demi-Latin,  and  jargon  of  the  schools,  printed 
for  English  in  impotent  old  trimestrials  for  the  further 
fogification  of  cliques,  but  he  had  laid  by  a  fair  store  of 
the  best,  of  the  monosyllables,  the  Saxon,  the  soul  and 
vestal  fire  of  the  great  English  tongue. 

So  he  Avas  never  at  a  loss  for  words,  simple,  clear, 
strong,  like  blasts  of  a  horn. 

His  voice  at  this  period  was  mellow  and  flexible.  He 
was  a  mimic  too ;  the  brighter  things  he  had  seen, 
whether  glories  of  nature  or  acts  of  man,  had  turned  to 
pictures  in  this  man's  mind.  He  flashed  these  pictures 
one  after  another  upon  the  trio :  he  peojiled  the  soft  and 
cushioned  drawing-room  with  twenty  different  tribes  and 


LOVE   INIE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  49 

varieties  of  man  —  barbarous,  seuii-barbarous,  and  civil- 
ized ;  their  curious  customs,  their  songs  and  chants  and 
dances  and  struts  and  actual  postures. 

The  aspect  of  famous  shores  from  the  sea,  glittering 
coasts,  dark  straits,  volcanic  rocks  defying  sea  and  sky, 
and  warm  delicious  islands  clothed  with  green,  that  burst 
on  the  mariner's  sight  after  rugged  places  and  scowling 
skies. 

The  adventures  of  one  unlucky  ship,  the  Connemara, 
on  a  single  whaling  cruise,  on  the  coast  of  Peru.  The 
first  slight  signs  of  a  gale  seen  only  by  the  careful 
skipper.  The  hasty  preparation  for  it :  all  hands  to 
shorten  sail ;  then  the  moaning  of  the  wind  high  up  in 
the  sky.  All  hands  to  reef  sail  now  —  the  whirl  and 
whoo  of  the  gale  as  it  came  down  on  them.  The  ship 
careening  as  it  caught  her;  the  speaking-trumpet,  the 
captain  howling  his  orders  through  it  amid  the  tumult. 

The  floating  icebergs  —  the  ship  among  them  picking 
her  way  in  and  out  a  hundred  deaths.  Baffled  by  the 
unyielding  wind  off  Cape  Horn,  sailing  six  weeks  on  oppo- 
site tacks  and  ending  just  where  they  began,  weather- 
bound in  sight  of  the  gloomy  Horn.  Then  the  terrors 
of  a  land-locked  bay,  and  a  lee  shore  :  the  ship  tacking, 
writhing,  twisting,  to  weather  one  jutting  promontory ; 
the  sea  and  safety  is  on  the  other  side  of  it,  land  and 
destruction  on  this  —  the  attempt,  the  hope,  the  failure ; 
then  the  stout-hearted  skilful  captain  would  try  one  rare 
manoeuvre  to  save  ship,  cargo,  and  crew.  He  would 
club-haul  her,  "and  if  that  fails,  my  lads,  there  is  noth- 
ing but  up  mainsail,  up  helm,  run  her  slap  ashore,  and 
lay  her  bones  on  the  softest  bit  of  rock  we  can  pick." 

Long  ere  this  the  poor  ship  had  become  a  live  thing 
to  all  these  four,  and  they  hung  breathless  on  her  fate. 

Then  he  showed  how  a  ship  is  club-hauled,  and  told 
how  nobly  the  old  Connemara  behaved  (ships  are  apt  to 


50  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

when  well  handled  —  donbled-barrelled  guns  ditto)  ;  and 
how  the  wind  blew  fiercer  and  the  rocks  seemed  to  open 
their  mouths  for  her,  and  how  she  hung  and  vibrated 
between  safety  and  destruction,  and  at  last  how  she 
writhed  and  slipped  between  Death's  lips,  yet  escaped 
his  teeth,  and  tossed  and  tumbled  in  triumph  on  the 
great  but  fair-fighting  sea.  And  how  they  got  at  last  to 
the  whaling-groiuid  and  could  not  find  a  whale  for  many 
a  weary  day,  and  the  novices  said,  "  they  were  all  killed 
before  we  sailed,"  and  how,  as  uncommon  ill  luck  is  apt 
to  be  balanced  by  uncommon  good  luck,  one  fine  evening 
they  fell  in  with  a  whole  shoal  of  whales  at  play,  jump- 
ing clean  into  the  air  sixty  feet  long  and  coming  down 
each  with  a  splash  like  thunder ;  even  the  captain  had 
never  seen  such  a  game :  and  how  the  crew  were  for 
lowering  the  boats  and  going  at  them,  but  the  captain 
would  not  let  them  —  a  hundred  playful  mountains  of 
fish,  the  smallest  weighing  thirty  ton,  flopping  down 
happy-go-lucky,  he  did  not  like  the  looks  of  it.  "  The 
boat  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  chance  among  all  those  tails, 
and  we  are  not  lucky  enough  to  throw  at  random.  No  — 
since  the  beggars  have  taken  to  dancing  for  a  change, 
let  them  dance  all  night,  to-morrow  they  shall  pay  the 
piper."  How  at  peep  of  day  the  man  at  the  mast-head 
saw  ten  whales  about  two  leagues  off  on  the  weather- 
bow,  how  the  ship  tacked  and  stood  towards  them,  how 
she  weathered  on  one  of  monstrous  size,  and  how  he  and 
the  other  youngsters  were  mad  to  lower  the  boat  and  go 
after  it,  and  how  the  captain  said,  "  Ye  lubbers,  can't  ye 
see  that  is  a  right  whale,  and  not  worth  a  button  ? 
Look  here  away  over  the  quarter  at  this  whale :  see  how 
low  she  spouts :  she  is  a  sperm  whale,  and  worth  seven 
hundred  pounds  if  she  was  only  dead  and  towed  along- 
side." 

" '  That  she  shall  be  in  about  a  minute,'  cried  one,  and 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  51 

indeed  we  were  all  in  a  flame,  the  boat  was  lowered,  and 
didn't  I  worship  the  skipper  when  he  told  nie  off  to  be 
one  of  her  crew  ! 

"I  Avas  that  eager  to  be  in  at  the  whale's  death,  I 
didn't  recollect  that  there  might  be  smaller  brutes  in 
danger. 

"Just  before  the  oars  fell  into  the  water  the  skipper 
looked  down  over  the  bulwarks,  and  says  he  to  one  of  us 
that  had  charge  of  the  rope  that  is  fast  to  the  boat  at  one 
end  and  to  the  harpoon  at  the  other :  *  Now,  Jack,  you 
are  a  new  hand  —  mind  all  I  told  you  last  night,  or  your 
mother  will  see  me  come  ashore  without  you,  and  that 
will  vex  her ;  and  my  lads,  remember  if  there  is  a  single 
lubberly  hitch  in  that  line  you  will  none  of  you  come  up 
the  ship's  side  again.' 

"'All  right,  captain,'  says  Jack,  and  we  pulled  off 
singing  — 

•  And  sirring  to  your  oars,  and  make  your  boat  fly, 
And  when  you  come  near  her  beware  of  her  eye '  — 

till  the  coxswain  bade  us  hold  our  lubberly  tongues,  and 
not  frighten  the  whales ;  however  we  soon  found  we 
wanted  all  our  breath  for  our  work  and  more  too."  Then 
David  i^ainted  the  furious  race  after  the  whale,  and  "  how 
the  boat  gradually  gained,  and  how  at  last,  as  he  was 
grinding  his  teeth  and  pulling  like  mad,  he  heard  a 
sound  ahead  like  a  hundred  elephants  wallowing.  And 
now  he  hoped  to  see  the  harpooner  leave  his  oar  and 
rise  and  fling  his  weapon ;  but  that  moment,  up  flukes, 
a  tower  of  fish  was  seen  a  moment  in  the  air  with  a  tail 
fin  at  the  top  of  it  'just  about  the  size  of  this  room  we 
are  sitting  in,  ladies,'  and  down  the  whale  sounded ;  then 
it  was  pull  on  again  in  her  wake,  according  as  she  headed 
in  sounding :  pull  for  the  dear  life  :  and  after  a  while  the 
oarsmen  saw  the  steersman's  eyes  prying  over  the  sea 


52  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

turn  like  hot  coals  ;  tlie  men  caught  lire  at  this  and 
put  their  very  backbones  into  each  stroke,  and  the  boat 
skimmed  and  flew :  suddenly  the  steersman  cried  out 
fiercely,  — '  Stand  up,  harpoon  ! '  up  rose  the  harpooner, 
his  eye  like  a  hot  coal,  now :  the  men  saw  nothing ;  they 
must  pull  fiercer  than  ever :  the  harpooner  balanced  his 
iron,  swayed  his  body  lightly,  and  the  harpoon  hissed 
from  him.  A  soft  thud  —  then  a  heaving  of  the  water 
all  round,  a  slap  that  sounded  like  a  church-tower  falling 
flat  upon  an  acre  of  boards,  and  drenched  and  blinded 
and  half  smothered  us  all  in  spray,  and  at  the  same 
moment  away  whirled  the  boat,  dancing  and  kicking  in 
the  whale's  foaming,  bubbling  wake,  and  we  holding  on 
like  grim  death  by  the  thwarts,  not  to  be  spun  out  into 
the  sea." 

"Delightful ! "  cried  Miss  Fountain, "  the  waves  bounded 
beneath  you  like  a  steed  that  knows  its  rider  —  pray  con- 
tinue." 

"  Yes,  Miss  Fountain ;  now  of  course  you  can  see  that 
if  the  line  ran  out  too  easy  the  whale  would  leave  us 
astern  altogether,  and  that  if  it  jammed  or  ran  too  hard, 
she  would  tow  us  under  water." 

"Of  course  we  see,"  said  Eve,  ironically,  "we  under- 
stand everything  by  instinct  —  hang  explanations  when 
I'm  excited ;  go  ahead,  do  ! " 

"  Then  I  Avon't  explain  how  it  is,  or  why  it  is,  but  I'll 
just  let  you  know  that  two  or  three  hundred  fathom  of 
line  are  passed  round  and  round  the  boat  from  stem  to 
stern  and  back,  and  carried  in  and  out  between  the  oar- 
men  as  they  sit.  Well,  it  was  all  new  to  me  then  ;  but 
when  the  boat  began  jumping  and  rocking,  and  the  line 
began  whizzing  in  and  out  and  screaming  and  smoking 
like  —  there  now,  fancy  a  machine,  a  complicated  one, 
made  of  poisonous  serpents,  the  steam  on,  and  you  sit- 
ting; in  the  middle  of  the  works  with  not  an  inch  to 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  53 

spare,  on  the  crankest,  rockingest,  jumpiugest,  buniping- 
est,  rollingest  cradle  that  ever  "  — 

"  David  !  "  said  Eve,  solemnly. 

"  Hallo ! "  sang  out  David. 

''  Don't !  " 

"Oh!  yes,  do!"  cried  Lucy,  slightly  clasping  her 
hands. 

''If  this  little  black  ugly  line  was  to  catch  you,  it 
would  spin  you  out  of  the  boat  like  a  shuttlecock  ;  if  it 
held  you,  it  would  cut  you  in  two,  or  hang  you  to  death 
and  drown  you  all  at  one  time :  and  if  it  got  jammed 
against  anything  alive  or  dead  that  could  stand  the 
strain,  it  would  take  the  boat  and  crew  down  to  the 
coral  before  you  could  wink  twice." 

"  Oh  dear,"  said  Lucy,  "  then  I  don't  think  I  like  it 
now  ;  it  is  too  terrible  ;  pray  go  on,  Mr.  —  Mr."  — 

■  "  Well,  Miss  Fountain,  when  a  novice  like  me  saw  this 
black  serpent  twisting  and  twirling,  and  smoking  and 
hissing  in  and  out  among  us,  I  remembered  the  skipper's 
words,  and  I  hailed  Jack :  it  was  he  had  laid  the  line ; 
he  was  in  the  bow. 

"  '  Jack,'  said  I.  '  Hallo,'  said  he.  '  For  God's  sake, 
are  there  any  hitches  in  the  line  ?  '  said  I. 

" '  Not  as  I  knoivs  on,'  says  he,  much  cooler  than  you 
sit  there,  and  that  is  a  sailor  all  over.  Well,  she  towed 
us  about  a  mile,  and  then  she  was  blown,  and  we  hauled 
up  on  the  line  and  came  up  with  her  and  drove  lances 
into  her,  till  she  spouted  blood  instead  of  salt  water, 
and  went  into  her  flurry  and  rolled  suddenly  over  our 
way,  dead,  and  was  within  a  foot  of  smashing  us  to 
atoms  ;  but  if  she  had  it  would  only  have  been  an  acci- 
dent, for  she  was  past  malice,  poor  thing ;  then  we  took 
possession,  planted  our  flagstaff  in  her  spouting  hole,  you 
know,  and  pulled  back  to  the  ship,  and  she  came  down 
and  anchored  to  the  whale,  and  then  for  the  first  time  I 


54       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

saw  the  blubber  stripped  off  a  whale  and  lioisted  by 
tackles  into  the  ship's  hold,  which  is  as  curious  as  any 
part  of  the  business,  but  a  dirtyish  job  and  not  fit  for  the 
present  company ;  and  I  dare  say  that  is  enough  about 
whales." 

"No!  no!  no!" 

"Well,  then,  shall  I  tell  you  how  one  old  whale 
knocked  our  boat  clean  into  the  air^  bottom  uppermost, 
and  how  we  swam  round  her,  and  managed  to  right  her  ?  " 

"  And  went  back  to  the  ship  and  had  your  tea  in  bed 
and  your  clothes  dried  ?  " 

"  No,  Eve,"  replied  David  Avith  the  utmost  simplicity ; 
"we  got  in  and  to  work  again  and  killed  the  whale  in 
less  than  half  an  hour,  and  planted  our  flag  on  her,  and 
away  after  another." 

Then  he  told  them  how  they  harpooned  one  right 
whale,  and  by  good  luck  were  able  to  make  her  fast  to 
the  stern  of  the  ship,  "  and  if  you  will  believe  me.  Miss 
Fountain,  though  there  was  just  a  breath  on  and  off 
riglit  aft,  and  the  foresail  jib  and  mizzen  all  set  to  catch 
it,  she  towed  the  sliip  astern  a  good  cable's  length,  and 
the  last  thing  was,  she  broke  the  harpoon  shaft  just 
below  the  line,  and  away  she  swam  right  in  the  wind's 
eye." 

"And  there  was  an  end  of  her,  and  your  nasty  cruel 
harpoon,  and  —  oh,  I'm  so  pleased." 

"  No,  there  wasn't,  Eve ;  we  heard  of  l^oth  fish  and 
harpoon  again  ;  but  not  for  a  good  many  years." 

"  Mr.  Dodd ! " 

"  Yes,  Miss  Fountain ;  it  is  curious,  like  many  things 
that  fall  out  at  sea ;  but  not  so  wonderful  as  her  towing 
a  ship  of  four  hundred  tons  with  the  foresail,  mizzen,  and 
jib  all  aback.  Well,  sir,  did  you  ever  hear  of  Nantucket  ? 
It  is  a  port  in  the  United  States ;  and  our  harpooner 
happened  to  be  there  full  four  years  after  we  lost  this 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  55 

whale.  Some  Yankee  whalers  were  treating  him  to  the 
best  of  grog,  and  it  was  brag  Briton,  brag  Yankee, 
according  to  custom  whenever  these  two  meet.  Well, 
our  man  had  no  more  invention  than  a  stone  ;  so  he  Avas 
getting  the  worst  of  it,  till  he  bethought  him  of  this 
Avhale;  so  he  up  and  told  how  he  had  struck  a  right 
whale  in  the  Pacific,  and  she  had  towed  the  ship  with 
her  sails  aback,  at  least  her  foresail,  mizzen,  and  jib; 
only  he  didn't  tell  it  short  like  me,  but  as  long  as  the 
Eed  Sea,  with  the  day  and  the  hour,  the  latitude  (within 
four  or  five  degrees,  I  take  it),  and  what  we  had  done  a 
week  before,  and  what  we  had  not  done,  all  by  way  of 
prologue,  and  for  fear  of  weathering  the  Horn,  tic,  tic, 
the  point,  of  the  story  too  soon.  When  he  had  done 
there  was  a  general  howl  of  laughter,  and  they  began  to 
cap  lies  with  him,  and  so  they  bantered  him  most  cruelly 
by  all  accounts ;  but  at  last  a  long,  silent  chap,  weather- 
beaten  to  the  color  of  rosewood,  put  in  his  word. 

" '  What  was  the  ship's  name,  mate  ? ' 

" '  The  Connemara,'  says  he. 

" '  And  what  is  your  name  ? '  So  he  told  him,  '  Jem 
Green.' 

"The  other  brings  a  great  mutton  fist  down  on  the 
table,  and  makes  all  the  glasses  dance.  'You  stay  at 
your  moorings  till  I  come  back,'  says  he.  '  I  have  got 
something  belonging  to  you,  Jem  Green,'  and  he  sheered 
off.  The  others  lay  to  and  passed  the  grog.  Presently, 
the  long  one  comes  back  with  a  harpoon  steel  in  his  hand 
—  there  was  'Connemara'  stamped  on  it,  and  also  'James 
Green '  graved  with  a  knife.  ' Is  that  yours  ? '  'Is  my 
hand  mine?'  says  Jem;  'but  wasn't  there  a  broken 
shaft  to  it  ?  ' 

" '  There  was,'  says  the  Yankee  harpooner,  '  I  cut  it  out.' 

" '  Well ! '  says  Jem,  '  that  is  the  harpoon  we  were  fast 
by  to  this  very  whale  —  where  did  you  kill  her  ? ' 


56  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 


a  ( 


In  the  Greenland  seas.'  And  he  whips  out  his 
private  log:  'liere  yon  are,'  says  he  —  'March  25,  1820, 
latitude  so  and  so  —  killed  a  right  whale,  lost  half  the 
blubber  owing  to  the  carcass  sinking  —  cut  an  English 
harpoon  out  of  her.' 

"  'Avast  there,  mate  ! '  cries  Jem,  and  he  whips  out  his 
log;  'overhaul  that.'  The  other  harpooner  overhauled 
it ;  '  mates,  look  here,'  says  he,  '  I  reckon  we  han't 
fathomed  the  critters  yet.  The  Britisher  struck  her  in 
the  Pacific  on  the  5th  of  March,  and  we  killed  her  off 
Greenland  on  the  25th,  five  thousand  miles  of  water  by 
the  lowest  reckoning.'  By  this  time  there  were  a  dozen 
heads  jammed  together,  like  bees,  swarming,  over  the 
two  logs.  '  She  got  a  wound  in  the  Pacific  !  "  Hallo  ! " 
says  she  —  "  this  is  no  sea  for  a  lady  to  live  in ; "  so  she 
up  helm  and  right  away  across  the  pole  into  the  Atlantic, 
and  met  her  death.'  " 

"  Your  story  has  an  interest'  you  little  suspect,  young 
gentleman.  If  this  is  true,  the  north-west  passage  is 
proved." 

"  That  has  been  proved  a  hundred  times,  sir,  and  in  a 
hundred  ways ;  the  only  riddle  is  to  find  it.  The  man 
that  tells  you  there  is  not  a  north-west  passage  is  no 
sailor,  and  the  fish  that  can't  find  it  is  not  a  whale ;  for 
there  is  not  a  young  suckling  no  bigger  than  this  room 
that  does  not  know  that  passage  as  well  as  a  mid  on  his 
first  voyage  knows  the  way  to  the  mizzen  top  through 
lubber's  hole  —  how  tired  you  must  be  of  whales,  ladies !" 

"  Oh,  no  !  " 

"  Kill  us  one  more,  David !  I  love  bloodshed  —  to 
hear  of." 

"  Well,  now,  I  don't  think  that  can  be  Miss  Fountain's 
taste,  to  look  at  her." 

Then  David  told  them  how  he  had  fallen  in  with  a 
sperm  whale   dead  of   disease,  floating  as  high  as  a 


LOVE  ME  IJTTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  57 

frigate ;  hoAV,  with  p..  very  light  breeze,  the  skipper  had 
crept  down  towards  her;  how  at  half  a  mile  distance 
the  stench  of  her  was  severe,  but,  as  they  neared  her, 
awful  —  then  so  intolerable,  that  the  skipper  gave  the 
crew  leave  to  go  below,  and  close  the  lee-ports.  So  there 
were  but  two  men  left  on  the  brig's  deck,  and  a  ship's 
company  that  a  hurricane  would  not  have  driven  from 
their  duty,  skulked  before  a  foul  smell;  but  such  a 
smell  —  a  smell  that  struck  a  chill  and  a  loathing  to  the 
heart  and  soul  and  marrow-bone,  a  smell  like  the  gases 
in  a  foul  mine ;  "  it  would  have  suffocated  us  in  a  few 
minutes  if  we  had  been  shut  up  along  with  it."  Then 
he  told  how  the  skipper  and  he  stuffed  their  noses  and 
ears  with  cotton  steeped  in  aromatic  vinegar,  and  their 
mouths  with  pig-tail  (by  Avhich,  as  it  subsequently 
appeared,  Lucy  understood  pork  or  bacon  in  some  form 
unknown  to  her  narrow  experience),  and  lighted  short 
pipes  and  breached  the  brig  upon  the  putrescent  monster, 
and  grappled  to  it,  and  then  the  skipper  jumped  on  it,  a 
basket  slung  to  his  back,  and  a  rope  fast  under  his 
shoulders  in  case  of  accidents,  and  drove  his  spade  in 
behind  the  whale's  side-fin. 

"  His  spade,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

"  His  whale-spade ;  it  is  as  sharp  as  a  razor ; "  and  how 
the  skipper  dug  a  hole  in  the  whale  as  big  as  a  well  and 
four  feet  deep,  and,  after  a  long  search,  gave  a  shout  of 
triumph,  and  picked  out  some  stuff  that  looked  like 
Gloucester  cheese  ;  and  when  he  had  nearly  filled  his 
basket  with  this  stuff,  he  slacked  the  grappling  iron,  and 
David  hauled  him  on  board,  and  the  carcass  dropped 
astern,  and  the  captain  sang  out  for  rum,  and  drank  a 
small  tumbler  neat  and  would  have  fainted  away,  spite 
of  his  precautions,  but  for  the  rum,  and  how  a  heavenly 
perfume  was  now  on  deck  fighting  with  that  horrid  odor. 
And  how  the  crew  smelled  it  and  crept  timidly  up  one 


58  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

by  one,  and  how  "  the  Gloster  cheese  was  a  great  favorite 
of  yours,  ladies ;  it  was  the  king  of  perfumes ;  amber- 
gris ;  there  is  some  of  it  in  all  your  richest  scents ;  and 
the  knowing  skipper  had  made  a  hundred  guineas  in  the 
turn  of  the  hand.  So  knowledge  is  wealth,  you  see,  and 
the  sweet  can  be  got  out  of  the  sour  by  such  as  study 
nature." 

"Don't  preach,  David,  especially  after  just  telling  a 
fib  —  a  hundred  guineas  ! " 

"  I  am  wrong,"  said  David. 

"Very  wrong,  indeed." 

"  There  were  eight  pounds ;  and  he  sold  it  a  guinea 
the  ounce  to  a  wholesale  chemist ;  so  that  looks  to  me 
like  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  pounds," 

Then  David  left  the  whales,  and  encouraged  by  bright 
eyes,  and  winning  smiles,  and  warm  questions,  sang 
higher  strains. 

Ships  in  dire  distress  at  sea,  yet  saved  by  God's  mercy 
and  the  cool  invincible  courage  of  captain  and  crew,  — 
great  ships  run  ashore,  tlie  waves  breaking  them  up, 
the  rigging  black  with  the  despairing  crew  eying  the 
watery  death  that  tumbled  and  gaped  and  roared  for 
them  below  —  and  then  little  shore  boats,  manned  by 
daring  hearts,  launched  into  the  surf,  and  going  out  to 
the  great  ship  and  her  peril,  risking  more  life  for  the 
chance  of  saving  life.  And  he  did  not  present  the  bare 
skeletons  of  daring  acts;  those  grand  morgues,  the  jour- 
nals, do  that.  There  lie  the  dry  bones  of  giant  epics 
waiting  genius's  hahd  to  make  them  live.  He  gave  them 
not  only  the  broad  outward  facts,  the  bones ;  but  those 
smaller  touches  that  are  the  body  and  soul  of  a  story, 
true  or  false ;  wanting  which  the  deeds  of  heroes  sound 
an  almanac ;  above  all  he  gave  them  glimpses  not  only 
of  what  men  acted  but  what  they  felt,  what  passed  in 
the   hearts  of   men  perishing  at  sea,  in  sight  of  land, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  59 

houses,  fires  on  the  hearth,  and  out-stretched  hands,  and 
in  the  hearts  of  the  heroes  that  ran  their  boats  into  the 
surf  and  Death's  maw  to  save  them,  and  of  the  lookers 
on,  admiring,  fearing,  shivering,  glowing,  and  of  the 
women  that  sobbed  and  prayed  ashore  with  their  backs 
to  the  sea;  just  able  to  risk  lover,  husband,  and  son,  for 
the  honor  of  manhood  and  the  love  of  Christ,  but  not 
able  to  look  on  at  their  own  flesh  and  blood  diving  so 
deep,  and  lost  so  long,  in  cockle-shells  between  the  hills 
of  waves. 

Such  great  acts,  great  feelings,  great  perils,  and  the 
gushes  that  crowned  all  of  holy  triumph,  when  the  boats 
came  in  with  the  dripping  and  saved,  and  man  for  a 
moment  looked  greater  than  the  sea  and  the  wind  and 
death,  this  seaman  poured  hot  from  his  own  manly  heart 
into  quick  and  womanly  bosoms,  that  heaved  visibly 
and  glowed  with  admiring  sympathy  and  fluttered  with 
gentle  fear. 

And  after  a  while,  though  not  at  first,  David's  yarns 
began  to  contain  a  double  interest  to  one  of  the  party  — 
Miss  Fountain.  Those  who  live  to  please  get  to  read 
character  at  sight,  and  David,  though  in  these  more 
noble  histories  he  scarcely  named  himself,  was  laying  a 
full-length  picture  of  his  own  mind  bare  to  these  keen 
feminine  eyes.  As  for  old  Fountain,  he  was  charmed,  and 
saw  nothing  more  than  David  showed  him  outright.  But 
the  women  sat  flashing  secret  intelligence  backwards  and 
forwards  from  eye  to  eye,  after  the  manner  of  their  sex. 

"  Do  you  see  ?  "  said  one  lady's  eyes. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  other.  "  He  was  concerned  in  this 
feat,  though  he  does  not  say  so." 

"  Oh !  you  agree  with  me  ?  Then  we  are  right," 
replied  the  first  pair  of  speakers. 

"There  again,  look,  this  sailor  whom  he  describes  as  a 
fellow  that  happened  to  be  ashore  at  that  foreign  port 


60  LOVE  ]ME  LITTLE,   L0\T:   ME  LONG. 

with  notliing  better  to  do,  and  who  went  out  with  the 
English  smugglers  to  save  the  brig  when  the  natives 
durst  not  launch  a  boat  ?  " 

"  Himself !  not  a  doubt  of  it." 

And  so  the  blue  and  hazel  lightning  Avent  dancing  to 
and  fro ;  ay,  even  when  the  tale  took  a  sorrowful  turn 
and  dimmed  these  bright  orbs  of  intelligence,  the  light- 
ning struggled  through  the  dew,  and  David  was  read  and 
discussed  by  gleams  and  glances  and  flashes,  without  a 
word  spoken.  And  he,  all  unconscious  that  he  sat 
between  a  pair  of  telegraphs,  and  heating  more  and  more 
under  his  great  recollections,  and  his  hearers'  sympathy, 
enthralled  them  with  his  tuneful  voice,  his  glowing  face, 
his  lion  eye,  and  his  breathing-burning  histories  :  heart  to 
dare  and  do,  yet  heart  to  feel,  and  brain  and  tongue  to 
tell  a  deed  well,  are  rare  allies,  yet  here  they  met.  He 
mastered  his  hearers,  and  played  on  their  breasts  as 
David  played  the  harp,  and  perhaps  Achilles  ;  Bochsa 
never,  nor  any  of  his  tribe.  He  made  the  old  man  forget 
his  genealogies,  his  small  ambition,  his  gout,  his  years, 
and  be  a  boy  again  an  hour  or  two  in  thought  and  blood 
and  early  fire.  He  made  the  women's  bosoms  pant  and 
swell,  and  seem  to  aspire  to  be  the  nests  and  cradles  of 
heroes,  and  their  eyes  flash  and  glisten,  and  their  cheeks 
flush  and  grow  pale  by  turns ;  and  the  four  little  papered 
walls  that  confined  them  seemed  to  fall  without  noise, 
and  they  were  away  in  thought  out  of  a  carpeted  temple 
of  wax,  small  talk,  nonentity,  and  nonentities,  away  to 
sea-breezes  that  they  almost  felt  in  their  hair  and  round 
their  temples  as  their  hearts  rose  and  fell  upon  a  broad 
swell  of  passion,  perils,  waves,  male  men,  realities.  The 
spell  was  at  its  height,  when  the  sea-wizard's  eye  fell  on 
the  mantel-piece.  Died  in  a  moment  his  noble  ardor. 
"  Why  it's  eight  bells,"  said  he  servilely ;  then,  doggedly, 
"  time  to  turn  in." 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  61 

"Hang  that  clock  !"  shouted  Mr.  Fountain,  "I'll  have 
it  turned  out  of  the  room." 

Said  Lucy,  with  gentle  enthusiasm,  "  It  must  be  beau- 
tiful to  be  a  sailor,  and  to  have  seen  the  real  world,  and 

above  all  to  be  brave  and  strong  like  Mr. ,  must  it 

not,  uncle  ?  "  And  she  looked  askant  at  David's  square 
shoulders  and  lion  eye,  and  for  the  first  time  in  her  life 
there  crossed  her  an  undefined  instinct  that  this  gentle- 
man must  be  the  male  of  her  species, 

"As  for  his  courage,"  said  Eve,  "that  we  have  only 
his  own  word  for." 

David  grinned. 

"Nor  even  that,"  replied  Lucy,  "for  I  observed  he 
spoke  but  little  of  himself." 

"  I  did  not  notice  that,"  said  Eve,  pertly ;  "  but  as  for 
his  strength,  he  certainly  is  as  strong  as  a  great  bear,  and 
as  rude.  What  do  you  think  ?  my  lord  carried  me  all 
the  way  from  the  top  of  the  green  lane  to  your  house, 
and  I  am  no  feather." 

"No,  a  skein  of  silk,"  put  in  David. 

"  I  asked  the  gentleman  politely  to  put  me  down,  and 
he  wouldn't,  so  then  I  boxed  his  ears." 

"  Oh !  how  could  you  ?  " 

"Oh!  bless  you!  he  never  hits  me  again;  he  is  too 
great  a  coward.  And  the  great  mule  carried  me  all  the 
more  —  carried  me  to  your  very  door." 

"I  almost  think,  I  believe,  I  could  guess  why  he  carried 
you,  if  you  will  not  be  offended  at  my  assuming  the 
interpreter,"  said  Lucy,  looking  at  Eve,  and  speaking  at 
David.  "You  have  thin  shoes  on.  Miss  Dodd;  now  I 
remember  the  gravel  ends  at  green  lane  and  the  grass 
begins ;  so,  from  what  we  now  know  of  Mr.  Dodd,  per- 
haps he  carried  you  that  you  might  not  have  damp  feet." 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind  —  yes  it  was,  though,  by  his 
coloring  up.     La,  David,  dear  boy  1 " 


62  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"What  is  a  man  alongside  for,  but  to  keep  a  girl  out 
of  miscliief  ?  "  said  David  brusquely. 

"Pray  convert  all  your  sex  to  that  view,"  laughed 
Lucy. 

So  now  they  were  going.  Then  Mr.  Fountain  thanked 
David  for  the  pleasant  evening  he  had  given  them ;  then 
David  blushed  and  stammered  ;  he  had  a  veneration  for 
old  age  ;  another  of  his  superstitions. 

Her  uncle's  lead  gave  Lucy  an  opportunity  she  in- 
stantly seized.  "  Mr.  Dodd,  you  have  taken  us  into  a 
new  world  of  knowledge  :  we  never  were  so  interested 
in  our  lives."  At  this  point-blank  praise  David  blushed, 
and  was  anything  but  comfortable,  and  began  to  back 
out  of  it  all  with  a  curt  bow.  Then,  as  the  ladies  can 
advance  when  a  man  of  merit  retreats,  Lucy  went  the 
length  of  putting  out  her  hand  with  a  sweet  grateful 
smile ;  so  he  took  it,  and,  in  the  ardor  of  encouraging  so 
much  spirit  and  modesty,  she  unconsciously  pressed  his 
hand.  On  this  delicious  pressure,  light  as  it  was,  he 
raised  his  full  brown  eye,  and  gave  her  such  a  straight- 
forward look  of  manly  admiration  and  pleasure,  that  she 
blushed  faintly,  and  drew  back  a  little  in  her  turn. 

"  Well,  Davy  dear,  how  do  you  like  the  Fountains  ?  " 

"  Eve,  she  is  a  clipper !  " 

'•And  the  old  gentleman ? " 

"  He  was  very  friendly.    Wliat  do  you  think  of  her  ?  " 

"  She  is  an  out-and-out  woman  of  the  Avorld  —  and 
very  agreeable,  as  insincere  people  generally  are.  I  like 
her,  because  she  was  so  polite  to  you." 

"  Oh,  that  is  your  reading  of  her,  is  it  ?  " 

The  rest  of  the  walk  passed  almost  in  silence. 

"  Uncle,  I  am  not  sleepy  to-night." 

"  No  more  am  I :  that  young  rascal  has  set  me  on  fire 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  63 

with  his  yarns.  Wlio  would  have  thought  that  awkAvard 
cub  had  so  much  in  him  ?  " 

"  Awkward ;  but  not  a  cub :  say  rather  a  black  swan ; 
and  you  know,  uncle,  a  swan  is  an  awkward  thing  on 
land,  but  when  it  takes  the  water  it  is  glorious,  and  that 
man  was  glorious  ;  but  —  Da — vid  —  Do — dd." 

"  I  don't  know  whether  he  was  glorious,  but  I  know 
he  amused  me,  and  I'll  have  him  to  tea  three  times  a 
week  while  he  lasts." 

"  Uncle,  do  you  believe  such  an  unfortunate  combina- 
tion of  sounds  is  his  real  name  ?  "  asked  Lucy,  gravely. 

"Why,  who  would  be  mad  enough  to  feign  such  a 
name  ?  " 

"  That  is  true,  but  now  tell  me  —  if  he  should  ever 
think  of  marrying  with  such  a  name  ?  " 

"  Then  there  will  be  two  David  Dodds  in  the  world, 
Mx.  and  Mrs." 

"  I  don't  think  so  ;  he  will  be  merciful,  and  take  her 
name  instead  of  she  his,  he  is  so  good-natured." 

"  Ordinary  sponsors  would  have  been  content  with 
Samuel  or  Nathan,  but  no,  his  ones  must  call  in  '  apt 
alliteration's  artful  aid,'  and  have  the  two  '  d's.' " 

Lucy  assented  with  a  smile,  and  so,  being  no  longer 
under  the  spell  of  the  enthusiast  and  the  male,  the  gene- 
alogist and  the  fine  lady  took  the  rise  out  of  what  Miss 
Fountain  was  pleased  to  call  his  im-possible  title  : 

Da— vid  Dodd. 

Lucy  was  not  called  on  to  write  any  more  formal  invi- 
tations to  Mr.  Talboys.  Her  uncle  used  merely  to  say 
to  her,  "  Talboys  dines  with  us  to-day."  She  made  no 
remark,  she  respected  her  uncle's  preference ;  besides  — 
the  pony.  Of  these  trios  Mr.  Fountain  was  the  true 
soul.  He  had  to  blow  the  coals  of  conversation  right 
and  left.  It  is  very  good  of  me  not  to  compare  him  to 
the  Tropic  between  two  frigid  zones.     At  first  he  took 


64  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

his  nap  as  usual ;  for  he  said  to  himself,  "  Now  I  hare 
started  them,  they  can  go  on."  Besides,  he  had  seen 
pictures  in  the  shop  windows  of  an  old  fellow  dozing 
and  then  the  young  ones  "  popping." 

Dozing  off  with  this  idea  uppermost,  he  used  to  wake 
with  his  eyes  shut  and  his  ears  wide  open ;  but  it  was  to 
hear  drowsy  monosyllables  dropping  oiit  at  intervals  like 
minute-guns,  or  to  find  Lucy  gone  and  Talboys  reading 
the  coals.  Then  the  schemer  sighed,  and  took  to  strong 
coffee  soon  after  dinner,  and  gave  up  his  nap ;  and  its 
loss  impaired  his  temper  the  rest  of  the  evening. 

He  indemnified  himself  for  these  laborious  and  sleep- 
less dinners  by  asking  David  Dodd  and  his  sister  to  tea 
thrice  a  week,  on  the  off-nights.  This  joyous  pair 
amused  the  poor  old  gentleman,  and  he  was  not  the  man 
to  deny  himself  a  xjleasure  without  a  powerful  motive. 

"  What,  again  so  soon  ? "  hazarded  Lucy,  one  day 
that  he  bade  her  invite  them.  "  I  hardly  know  how  to 
word  my  invitation :  I  have  exhausted  the  forms." 

"  If  you  say  another  word,  I'll  make  them  come  every 
night.  Am  I  to  have  no  amusement  ?  "  he  added,  in  a 
deep  tone  of  reproach,  "  they  make  me  laugh." 

"  Ah  !  I  forgot,  forgive  me." 

"  Little  hypocrite :  don't  they  you  too,  pray  ?  why, 
you  are  as  dull  as  ditch-water  the  other  evenings." 

''  Me,  dear,  dull  with  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  ]\Iiss  Crocodile  ;  dull  with  a  pattern  uncle,  and 
his  friend  —  and  your  admirer."  He  watched  her  to  see 
how  she  would  take  this  last  word.  Catch  her  taking  it 
at  all.  "  I  am  never  dull  with  you,  dear  uncle,"  said  she, 
"  but  a  third  person,  however  estimable,  is  a  certain 
restraint ;  and  when  that  person  is  not  very  lively  "  — 
Here  the  explanation  came  quietly  to  an  untimely  end, 
like  those  old  tunes  that  finish  in  the  middle  or  there- 
abouts. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ISfE    LONG.  65 

"  But  that  is  the  very  thing ;  what  do  I  ask  them  for 
to-night,  but  to  thaw  Talboys  ?  " 

"  To  thaw  Talboys  ?  he,  he  ! "  Lucy  seemed  so 
tickled  by  this  expression  that  the  old  gentleman  was 
sorry  he  had  used  it. 

"  I  mean  they  will  make  him  laugh  ;  "  then,  to  turn  it 
off,  he  said  hastily,  "  And  don't  forget  the  fiddle,  Lucy." 

"  Oh  yes,  dear^,  please  let  me  forget  that,  and  then  per- 
haps* they  may  forget  to  bring  it." 

"  Why  you  pressed  him  to  bring  it,  I  heard  you." 

"  Did  I  ?  "  said  Lucy  ruefully. 

"  I  am  sure  I  thought  you  were  mad  after  a  fiddle  — • 
you  seconded  Eve  so  warmly ;  so  that  was  only  your 
extravagant  politeness  after  all.  I  am  glad  you  are 
caught.     I  like  a  fiddle ;  so  there  is  no  harm  done." 

Yes,  reader,  you  have  hit  it.  Eve,  who  openly  quizzed 
her  brother,  but  secretly  adored  him,  and  loved  to  dis- 
play all  his  accomplishments,  had  egged  on  Mr.  Fountain 
to  ask  David  to  bring  his  violin  next  time.  Lucy  had 
shivered  internally  —  "  Now  of  all  the  screeching,  whin- 
ing things  that  I  dislike,  a  violin  !  "  — and  thus  thinking 
gushed  out,  "  Oh,  pray  do,  ]\Ir.  Dodd,"  with  a  gentle 
warmth  that  settled  the  matter,  and  imposed  on  all 
around. 

This  evening  then  the  Dodds  came  to  tea. 

They  found  Lucy  alone  in  the  drawing-room,  and  Eve 
engaged  her  directly  in  sprightly  conversation,  into  which 
they  soon  drew  David,  and,  interchanging  a  secret  signal, 
plied  him  with  a  few  artful  questions,  and  —  launched 
him.  But  the  one  sketch  I  gave  of  his  manner  and  mat- 
ter must  serve  again  and  again.  Were  I  to  retail  to  the 
reader  all  the  droll,  the  spirited,  the  exciting  things,  he 
told  his  hearers,  there  would  be  no  room  for  my  own 
little  story ;  and  we  are  all  so  egotistical.  Suffice  it  to 
oay,  the  living  book  of  travels  was  inexhaustible;  his 


66  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

observation  and  memory  Avere  really  marvellous,  and  his 
enthusiasm  coupled  Avith  his  accuracy  of  detail  had  still 
the  power  to  enthrall  his  hearers. 

"  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  Lucy,  "  now  I  see  why  Eastern  kings 
have  a  story-teller  always  about  them,  a  live  story-teller; 
would  not  3'ou  have  one,  Miss  Dodd,  if  you  Avere  queen 
of  Persia  ?  " 

"  Me  ?  I'd  have  a  couple :  one  to  make  me  laugli,  one 
miserable." 

*'  One  Avould  be  enougli  if  his  resources  Avere  equal  to 
your  brother's.  Pray  go  on,  Mr.  Dodd.  It  Avas  madness 
to  interrupt  you  Avith  small  talk." 

David  hung  his  head  a  moment ;  then  lifted  it  with  a 
smile,  and  sailed  in  the  spirit  into  the  China  seas,  and 
there  told  them  hoAv  the  Chinamen  used  to  slip  on  board 
his  ship  and  steal  Avith  supernatural  dexterity,  and  the 
sailors  catch  them  by  the  tails,  wdiich,  they  observing, 
came  over  with  their  tails  soaped  like  pigs'  at  a  village 
feast;  and  how  some  fool-hardy  sailors  Avould  venture 
into  the  town  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  and  how  one  day 
they  had  to  run  for  it,  and  Avhen  they  got  to  the  shore 
their  boat  Avas  stolen,  and  they  had  to  'bout  shijD  and 
fight  it  out,  and  one  felloAV  Avho  knew  the  natives  had 
loaded  the  sailors'  guns  Avith  currant-jelly.  Make  ready 
—  present  —  fire  !  In  a  moment  the  troops  of  the  Celes- 
tial Empire  smarted,  and  Avere  spattered  Avith  seeming 
gore,  and  fled  yelling. 

Then  he  told  how  a  poor  comrade  of  his  was  nabbed 
and  clapped  in  prison,  and  his  hands  and  feet  Avere  to  be 
cut  off  at  sunrise ;  himself  at  noon.  It  Avas  midnight, 
and  strict  orders  from  the  quarter-deck  that  no  man 
should  leave  the  ship ;  what  was  to  be  done  ?  It  Avas 
a  moonlight  night.  They  met  silent  as  death  between 
decks,  —  daren't  speak  above  a  Avhisper,  for  fear  the 
officers  should  hear  them.     His  messmate  was  crying 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  67 

like  a  child.  One  proposed  one  thing,  one  another ;  but 
it  was  all  nonsense,  and  we  knew  it  was,  and  at  sunrise 
poor  Tom  must  die. 

At  last  up  jumps  one  fellow,  and  cries,  "Messmates, 
I've  got  it !     Tom  isn't  dead  yet !  " 

This  was  the  moment  Mr.  Fountain  and  Mr.  Talboys 
chose  for  coming  into  the  drawing-room,  of  course.  Mr. 
Fountain,  with  a  shade  of  hesitation  and  awkwardness, 
introduced  the  Dodds  to  Mr.  Talboys ;  he  bowed  a  little 
stiffly,  and  there  was  a  pause.  Eve  could  not  repress  a 
little  movement  of  nervous  impatience.  "  David  is  tell- 
ing us  one  of  his  nonsensical  stories,  sir,"  said  she  to 
Mr.  Fountain,  "  and  it  is  so  interesting ;  go  on,  David." 

"  "Well,  but,"  said  David  modestly,  "  it  isn't  everybody 
that  likes  these  sea  yarns  as  you  do.  Eve.  No,  I'll  belay, 
and  let  my  betters  get  a  word  in  now." 

"  You  are  more  merciful  than  most  story-tellers,  sir," 
said  Talboys.  * 

Eve  tossed  her  head  and  looked  at  Lucy,  who  with  a 
word  could  have  the  story  on  again.  That  young  lady's 
face  expressed  general  complacency,  politeness,  and  ^^tout 
vt'est  egalP  Eve  could  have  beat  her  for  not  taking 
David's  part.  "  Double  face  ! "  thought  she.  She  then 
devoted  herself  with  the  sly  determination  of  her  sex  to 
trotting  David  out,  and  making  him  the  principal  figure 
in  spite  of  the  new-comer. 

But  as  fast  as  she  heated  him,  Talboys  cooled  him. 
We  are  all  great  at  something  or  other,  small  or  great. 
Talboys  was  a  first-rate  freezer.  He  was  one  of  those 
men  who  cannot  shine,  but  can  eclipse.  They  darken  all 
but  a  vain  man  by  casting  a  dark  shadow  of  trite  sentences 
on  each  luminary.  The  vain  man  insults  them  directly, 
and  so  gets  rid  of  them. 

Talboys  kept  coming  across  honest  enthusiastic  David 
with  little  remarks,  each  skilfully  discordant  with  the 

0 


68  LOVE   IVfE  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

rising  sentiment.  Was  he  droll,  Talboys  did  a  bit  of 
polite  gravity  on  him ;  was  he  warm  in  praise  of  some 
gallant  action,  chill  irony  trickled  on  him  from  T. 

His  flashes  of  romance  were  extinguished  by  neat  little 
dicta,  embodying  sordid  and  false,  but  current,  views  of 
life.  The  gauze  wings  of  eloquence  unsteeled  by  vanity 
will  not  bear  this  repeated  dabbing  with  prose  glue,  so 
David  collapsed  and  Talboys  conquered  —  "spell"  be- 
numbed "  charm."  The  sea-wizard  yield  to  the  petrifier, 
and  "could  no  more,"  as  the  poets  say.  Talboys  smiled 
superior.  But,  as  his  art  was  a  purely  destructive  one, 
it  ended  with  its  victim ;  not  having  an  idea  of  his 
own  in  his  skull,  the  commentator,  in  silencing  his  text, 
silenced  himself,  and  brought  the  society  to  a  stand-still. 
Eve  sat  with  flashing  eyes.  Lucy's  twinkled  with  sly 
fun,  this  made  Eve  angrier.     She  tried  another  tack. 

"You  asked  David  to  bring  his  fiddle,"  said  she  sharply, 
"but  I  suppose  ?to(y" —      * 

"  Has  he  brought  it  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Fountain  eagerly. 

"  Yes,  he  has,  I  made  him,"  with  a  glance  of  defiance 
at  Talboys. 

Mr.  Fountain  rang  the  bell  directly,  and  sent  for  the 
fiddle.  It  came,  David  took  it,  and  tuned  it,  and  made 
it  discourse.  Lucy  leaned  a  little  back  in  her  chair,  and 
wore  her  "  tout  m^est  egal "  face,  and  Eve  watched  her 
like  a  cat.  First  her  eyes  opened  with  mild  astonish- 
ment, then  her  lips  parted  in  a  smile ;  after  a  while  a 
faint  color  came  and  went,  and  her  eyes  deepened  and 
deepened  in  color  and  glistened  with  the  dewy  light  of 
sensibility. 

A  fiddle  wrought  this,  or  rather  genius,  in  whose  hand 
a  jew's-harp  is  the  lyre  of  Orpheus,  a  fiddle  the  liarj)  of 
David,  a  chisel  a  hewer  of  heroic  forms,  a  brush  or  a  pen 
the  sceptre  of  souls,  and,  alas  !  a  nail  a  picklock. 

Inside  every  fiddle  is  a  soul;  but  a  coy  one.     The  nine 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.       69 

hundred  and  ninety-nine  never  win  it.  They  play  rapid 
tunes,  but  the  soul  of  beautiful  gayety  is  not  there ;  slow 
tunes,  very  slow  ones,  wherein  the  spirit  of  whining  is 
mighty,  but  the  sweet  soul  of  pathos  is  absent ;  doleful, 
not  nice  and  tearful.  Then  comes  the  heaven-born  fiddler, ^ 
who  can  make  himself  cry  with  his  own  fiddle.  David 
had  a  touch  of  this  witchcraft.  Though  a  sound  musician 
and  reasonably  master  of  his  instrument,  he  could  not  fly 
in  a  second  up  and  down  it,  tickling  the  finger-board,  and 
scratching  the  strings  without  an  atom  of  tone,  as  the 
mechanical  monkeys  do  that  boobies  call  fine  players. 

Great  Orjoheus  i^layed  so  well,  he  moved  Old  Nick, 
But  these  move  nothing  but  their  fiddle-stick.''^ 

But  he  could  make  you  laugh  and  crow  with  his  fiddle, 
and  could  make  you  jump  up,  setat.  sixty,  and  snap  your 
fingers  at  old  age  and  propriety,  and  propose  a  jig  to  two 
bishops  and  one  master  of  the  rolls,  and,  they  declining, 
pity  them  without  a  shade  of  anger,  and  substitute  three 
chairs  :  then  sit  unabashed  and  smiling  at  the  past;  and 
the  next  minute  he  could  make  you  cry  or  near  it.  In  a 
word,  he  could  evoke  the  soul  of  that  wonderful  wooden 
shell  and  bid  it  discourse  with  the  souls  and  hearts  of 
his  hearers. 

Meantime  Lucy  Fountain's  face  would  have  interested 
a  subtle  student  of  her  sex. 

Her  sensibility  to  music  was  great,  and  the  feeling 
strains  stole  into  her  nature  and  stirred  the  treasures  of 
the  deep  to  the  surface.  Eve,  a  keen  if  not  a  profound 
observer,  was  struck  by  the  rising  beauty  of  this  counte= 
nance  over  which  so  many  moods  chased  one  another. 

1  This  is  the  definition  of  the  heaven-born  fiddler  by  Pate  Bailey,  a  gypsy 
tinker  and  celestial  violinist.  Being  asked  for  a  test  of  proficency  on  that 
instrument,  he  replied  that  no  man  is  a  fiddler  "  till  he  can  gar  himsel  greet 
wi  a  feddle." 

*  See  how  uiyust  satire  is!    Don't  they  move  their  finger-nails? 


70       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

She  said  to  herself,  ''Well,  David  is  right  after  all.  She 
is  a  lovely  girl.  Her  features  are  nothing  out  of  the 
way.  Her  nose  is  neither  one  thing  nor  the  other ;  but 
her  expression  is  beautiful.  None  of  3'our  wooden  faces 
for  me.  And,  dear  heart,  how  her  neck  rises  !  La,  how 
her  color  comes  and  goes !  Well,  I  do  love  the  fiddle 
myself  dearly ;  and  now,  if  her  eyes  are  not  brimming ! 
I  could  kiss  her !  La,  David,"  cried  she,  bursting  the 
bonds  of  silence,  "that  is  enough  of  the  tune  the  old 
cow  died  of;  take  and  play  something  to  keep  our  hearts 
up,  do." 

Eve's  good  humor  and  mirth  were  restored  by  David's 
success,  and  now  nothing  would  serve  her  turn  but  a 
duet,  pianoforte  and  violin.  Miss  Fountain  objected  — 
"  Why  spoil  the  violin  ?  "  David  objected  too  —  "I  had 
hoped  to  hear  the  pianoforte,  and  how  can  I  with  a  fiddle 
sounding  under  my  chin  ? "  Eve  overruled  both  per- 
emptorily. 

"  Well,  Miss  Dodd,  what  shall  we  select  ?  but  it  does 
not  matter,  I  feel  sure  Mr.  Dodd  can  play  a  livre  ouvertP 

"Not  he,"  said  Eve  hypocritically,  being  secretly 
convinced  he  could.  "Can  you  play  'a  leevre  ouvert,' 
David  ?  —  Who  is  it  by,  Miss  Fountain  ?  "  Lucy  never 
moved  a  muscle. 

After  a  rummage  a  duet  was  found  that  looked  prom- 
ising ;  and  the  performance  began. 

In  the  middle  David  stopped. 

"  Ha !  ha !  David's  broke  down,"  shrieked  Eve,  con- 
cealing her  uneasiness  under  fictitious  gayety.  "  I  thought 
he  would." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  explained  David  to  Miss  Foun- 
tain,  "but  you  are  out  of  time." 

"  Am  I  ?  "  said  Lucy  composedly. 

"  And  have  been  more  or  less  all  through." 

"  David,  you  forget  yourself." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ISIE   LONG.  71 

"No,  no,  set  me  right  by  all  means,  Mr.  Dodd.  I  am 
not  a  hardened  offender." 

"  Is  it  not  just  possible  the  violin  may  be  the  instru- 
ment that  is  out  of  time  ?  "  suggested  Talboys  insidiously. 

"No,"  said  David  simply,  "I  was  right  enough." 

"Let  us  try  again,  Mr.  Dodd.  Play  me  a  few  bars 
first  in  exact  time.     Thank  you  !  —  now  "  — 

"  All  went  merry  as  a  marriage  bell,"  for  a  page  and  a 
half  —  then  David,  fiddling  away,  cried  out,  "  You  are 
getting  too  fast,  '  ri  tum  tiddy  iddy  ri  turn  ti,' "  —  then 
by  stamping  and  accenting  very  strongly,  he  kept  the 
piano  from  overflowing  its  bounds.  The  piece  ended. 
Eve  rubbed  her  hands.  "  Now  you'll  catch  it,  Mr. 
David." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  gav^e  you  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  Mr. 
Dodd." 

"  £>i  revanche,  you  gave  us  a  great  deal  of  pleasure," 
put  in  Mr.  Talboys. 

Lucy  turned  her  head  and  smiled  graciously ;  "  But 
pianoforte  players  play  so  much  by  themselves ;  they 
really  forget  the  awful  importance  of  time." 

"  I  profit  by  your  confession  that  they  do  sometimes 
play  by  themselves,"  said  Mr.  Talboys  :  "  be  merciful,  and 
let  us  hear  you  by  yourself."  Eve  turned  as  red  as 
fire. 

David  backed  the  request  sincerely. 

Lucy  played  a  piece  composed  expressly  for  the  piano 
by  a  pianist  of  the  day.  David  sat  on  her  left  hand  and 
watched  intently  how  she  did  it. 

\Vhen  it  was  over  Talboys  did  a  bit  of  rapture ;  Eve 
another. 

"That  is  playing." 

"I  would  not  have  believed  it  if  I  had  not  seen  it 
done,"  said  David.  "Eve,  you  should  have  seen  her 
beautiful  fingers  thread  in  and  ovit  among  the  keys ;  it 


72  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

was  like  white  fire  dancing,  and  as  for  her  hand,  it  is  not 
troubled  with  joints  like  ours,  I  should  say." 

"  The  music,  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  Lucy,  severely. 

"  Oh,  the  music  !  well,  I  could  hardly  take  on  me  to 
say.  You  see  I  heard  it  by  the  eye,  and  that  was  all  in 
its  favor :  but  I  should  say  the  music  wasn't  worth  a 
button." 

"  David  !  " 

"  How  you  run  off  with  one's  words.  Eve.  I  mean, 
played  by  anybody  but  her ;  why,  what  was  it  when  you 
come  to  think  ?  up  and  down  the  gamut  and  then  down 
and  up.  No  more  sense  in  it  than  a  b  c,  a  scramble  to 
the  mainmast  head  for  nothing  and  back  to  no  good.  I'd 
as  lief  see  you  play  on  the  table,  IVIiss  Fountain." 

"  Poor  Moscheles  !  "  said  Lucy,  dryly. 

"  Eevenge  is  in  your  power,"  said  Talboys,  "  play  no 
more  ;  punish  us  all  for  this  one  heretic." 

Lucy  reflected  a  moment :  she  then  took  from  the 
Canterbury  a  thick  old  book.  "  This  was  my  mother's. 
Her  taste  was  pure  in  music  as  in  everything.  I  shall 
be  sorry  if  you  do  not  all  like  this,"  added  she,  softly. 

It  was  an  old  mass  ;  full  magnificent  chords  in  long 
succession,  strung  together  on  a  clear  but  delicate  melody. 
She  played  it  to  perfection  :  her  lovely  hands  seemed  to 
grasp  the  chords.  No  fumbling  in  the  bass ;  no  gelatin- 
izing in  the  treble.  Her  touch,  firm  and  masterly,  j^et 
feminine,  evoked  the  soul  of  her  instrument  as  David 
had  of  his,  and  she  thought  of  her  mother  as  she  played. 
These  were  those  golden  strains  from  which  all  mortal 
dross  seems  purged.  Hearing  them  so  played  you  could 
not  realize  that  he  who  writ  them  had  ever  eaten,  drunk, 
smoked,  snuffed,  and  hated  the  composer  next  door.  She 
who  played  them  felt  their  majesty  and  purity.  She 
lifted  her  beaming  eye  to  heaven  as  slie  jdayed,  and  the 
color  receded  from  her  cheek ;  and  when   her  enchant- 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  73 

ment  ended  slie  was  silent,  and  all  were  silent,  and  their 
ears  ached  for  the  departed  charm. 

Then  she  looked  round  a  mute  inquiry. 

Talboys  applauded  loudly 

But  the  tear  stood  in  David's  eye,  and  he  said  nothing. 

"Well,  David,"  said  Eve,  reproachfully,  "I'm  sure  if 
that  does  not  please  you  "  — 

"  Please  me,"  cried  David,  a  little  fretfully,  "  more 
shame  for  me  if  it  does  not.  Please  is  not  the  word.  It 
is  angel  music,  I  call  it  —  ah  !  " 

"  Well,  you  need  not  break  your  heart  for  that :  he  is 
going  to  cry,  ha,  ha  !  " 

"I'm  no  such  thing,"  cried  David  indignantly,  and 
blew  his  nose  —  promptly,  with  a  vague  air  of  explana- 
tion and  defiance. 

But  why  the  male  of  my  species  blows  its  nose  to  hide 
its  sensibility,  a  deeper  than  I  must  decide. 

Mr.  Talboys  for  some  time  had  not  been  at  his  ease. 
He  had  been  playing  too,  and  an  instrument  he  hated  — 
second  fiddle.  He  rose  and  joined  Mr.  Fountain,  who 
was  sitting  half  awake  on  a  distant  sofa. 

"Aha!"  thought  Eve  exulting,  "we  have  driven  him 
away." 

Judge  her  mortification,  when  Lucy,  after  shutting  the 
piano,  joined  her  uncle  and  Mr.  Talboys.  Eve  whispered 
David  —  "  Gone  to  smooth  him  down  :  the  high  and 
mighty  gentleman  wasn't  made  enough  of." 

"  Every  one  in  their  turn,"  said  David  calmly  ;  "  that 
is  manners  :  look,  it  is  the  old  gentleman  she  is  being 
kind  to.     She  could  not  be  unkind  to  any  one,  however.'" 

Eve  put  her  lips  to  David's  ear.  "  She  will  be  unkind 
to  you,  if  you  are  ever  mad  enough  to  let  her  see  what  I 
see,"  said  she,  in  a  cutting  whisper. 

"  What  do  you  see  ?  More  than  there  is  to  see,  I'll 
wager,"  said  David,  looking  down. 


74       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"Ah,  that  is  the  way  with  young  men:  the  moment 
they  take  a  fancy,  their  sister  is  nothing  to  them  :  their 
best  friend  loses  their  conlidence." 

"  Don't  ye  say  that,  Eve  !  now  don't  say  that ! " 

"  No  —  no  —  David  —  never  mind  me.  I  am  cross. 
And  if  you  saw  a  sore  heart  in  store  for  any  one  you  had 
a  regard  for,  woukln't  you  be  cross  ?  Young  men  are  so 
stupid  :  they  can't  read  a  girl,  no  more  than  Hebrew  ;  if 
she  is  civil  and  affable  to  them,  oh  they  are  the  man 
directly,  when,  instead  of  that,  if  it .  was  so,  she  would 
more  likely  be  shy,  and  half  afraid  to  come  near  them. 
David,  you  are  in  a  fool's  paradise.  In  company  and 
even  in  flirtation  all  sorts  meet  and  part  again :  but  it 
isn't  so  with  marriage.  There  '  it  is  beasts  of  a  kind 
that  in  one  are  joined,  and  birds  of  a  feather  that  come 
together.'  Like  to  like,  David.  She  is  a  fine  lady,  and 
she  will  marry  a  fine  gentleman  and  nothing  else,  with 
a  large  income.  If  she  knew  what  has  been  in  your 
head  this  month  past,  she  would  open  her  eyes  and  ask 
if  the  man  was  mad." 

"  She  has  a  right  to  look  down  on  me,  I  know,"  mur- 
mured David  humbly,  but  (his  eye  glowing  with  sudden 
rapture)  she  doesn't  —  she  doesn't." 

"  Look  down  on  you !  you  are  better  company  than  she 
is,  or  any  one  she  can  get  in  this  out-of-the-way  place : 
it  is  her  interest  to  be  civil  to  you.  I  am  too  hard  upon 
her ;  she  is  a  lady,  a  perfect  lady,  and  that  is  why  she 
is  above  giving  herself  airs.  No,  David,  she  is  not  the 
one  to  treat  us  with  disrespect,  if  we  don't  forget  our- 
selves. But  if  ever  you  let  her  see  that  you  are  in  love 
with  her,  you  will  get  an  affront  that  will  make  your 
cheek  burn  and  my  heart  smart :  so  I  tell  you." 

"  Hush  !     I  never  told  you  I  was  in  love  with  her." 

"  Never  told  me  ?  Never  told  me  ?  who  asked  you  to 
tell  me  ?     I  have  eyes  if  you  have  none." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.       75 

"  Eve,"  said  David,  imploringly,  "  I  don't  hear  of  any 
lover  that  she  has.     Do  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Eve,  carelessly.  "  But  who  knows  ?  she 
passes  half  the  year  a  hundred  miles  from  this  ;  and 
there  are  young  men  everywhere.  If  she  was  a  milk- 
maid, they'd  turn  to  look  at  her  with  such  a  face  and 
figure  as  that,  much  more  a  young  lady  with  every  grace 
and  every  charm  :  she  has  more  than  one  after  her  that 
we  never  see,  take  my  word." 

Eve  had  no  sooner  said  this  than  she  regretted  it ;  for 
David's  face  quivered,  and  he  sighed  like  one  trying  to 
recover  his  breath  after  a  terrible  blow. 

What  made  this  and  the  succeeding  conversation  the 
more  trying  and  peculiar  was  that  the  presence  of  other 
persons  in  the  room,  though  at  a  considerable  distance, 
compelled  both  brother  and  sister,  though  anything  but 
calm,  to  speak  sotto  voce.  But  in  the  history  of  mankind 
more  strange  and  incongruous  matter  has  been  dealt  with 
in  an  undertone,  and  with  artificial  and  forced  calmness. 

"  My  poor  David,"  said  Eve,  sorrowfully,  "  you  who 
used  to  be  so  proud,  so  high-spirited.  Be  a  man  !  don't 
throw  away  such  a  treasure  as  your  affection.  For  my 
sake,  dear  David,  your  sister's  sake  avIio  does  love  you  so 
very,  very  dearly  ! " 

"And  I  love  you.  Eve.  Thank  you.  It  Avas  hard 
lines.  Ah !  But  it  is  wholesome,  no  doubt,  like  most 
bitters.  Yes.  Thank  you,  Eve.  I  do  admire  her  v-very 
much,"  and  his  voice  faltered  a  little.  "  But  I  am  a  man 
for  all  that,  and  I'll  stand  to  my  own  words.  I'll  never 
be  any  woman's  slave." 

"  That  is  right,  David." 

"  I  will  not  give  hot  for  cold,  nor  my  heart  for  a  smile 
or  two.  I  can't  help  admiring  her,  and  I  do  hope  she 
will  be  — happy  —  ah  —  whoever  she  fancies.  But,  if  I 
am  never  to  command  her^  I  won't  carry  a  willow  at  my 


76  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   MB   LONG. 

mast-head,  and  drift  away  from  reason  and  manhood  and 
my  duty  to  yon  and  mother  and  myself." 

"  Ah,  David,  if  you  could  see  how  noble  you  look  now 
—  is  it  a  promise,  David  ?  For  I  know  you  will  keep 
your  word  if  once  you  pass  it." 

"  There  is  my  hand  on  it.  Eve." 

The  brother  and  sister  grasped  hands,  and  when  David 
was  about  to  withdraw  his,  Eve's  soft  but  vigorous  little 
hand  closed  tighter  and  kept  it  firmer,  and  so  they  sat 
in  silence. 

"  Eve." 

"  My  dear." 

"  Now  don't  you  be  cross." 

"  No,  dear.     Eve  is  sad,  not  cross  :  what  is  it  ?  " 

«  Well,  Eve  —dear  Eve." 

"  Don't  be  afraid  to  speak  your  mind  to  me  —  why 
should  you  ?  " 

"  Well  then.  Eve,  now,  if  she  had  not  some  little  kind- 
ness for  me,  would  she  be  so  pleased  with  these  thunder- 
ing yarns  I  keep  spinning  her,  as  old  as  Adam,  and  as 
stale  as  bilge-water  ?  You  that  are  so  keen,  how  comes 
it  you  don't  notice  her  eyes  at  these  times  ?  I  feel  them 
shine  on  me  like  a  couple  of  suns.  They  Avould  make  a 
statue  pay  the  yarn  out.  Who  ever  fancied  my  chat  as 
she  does  ?  " 

"  David,"  said  Eve,  quietly,  "  I  have  thought  of  all 
this  :  but  I  am  convinced  now  there  is  nothing  in  it. 
You  see,  David,  mother  and  I  are  used  to  your  yarns, 
and  so  we  take  them  as  a  matter  of  course  —  but  the  real 
fact  is,  they  are  very  interesting,  and  very  enticing,  and 
you  tell  them  like  a  book.  You  came  all  fresh  to  this 
lady,  and  she  is  very  quick ;  so  she  had  the  wit  to  see 
the  merit  of  your  descriptions  directly.  I  can  see  it 
myself  now.  All  young  women  like  to  be  amused, 
David,  and,  above  all,  excited :  and  your  stories  are  very 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  77 

exciting :  that  is  the  charm :  that  is  what  makes  her 
eyes  fire :  but  if  that  puppy  there,  or  that  book-shelf 
yonder,  could  tell  her  your  stories,  she  would  look  at 
either  the  puppy  or  the  book-stand  with  just  tlie  same 
eyes  she  looks  on  you  with,  my  poor  David." 

''  Don't  say  so,  Eve !  Let  me  think  there  is  some 
little  feeling  for  me  inside  those  sweet  eyes  that  look  so 
kind  on  me." 

"  And  on  me,  and  on  everybody.  It  is  her  manner.  I 
tell  you  she  is  so  to  all  the  world.  She  isn't  the  first 
I've  met.  Trust  me  to  read  a  woman,  David :  what  can 
you  know  ?  " 

"I  know  nothing:  but  they  tell  me  you  can  fathom 
one  another  better  than  any  man  ever  could,"  said  David 
sorrowfully. 

"  David,  just  now  you  were  telling  as  interesting  a  story 
as  ever  was.     You  had  just  got  to  the  thrilling  part." 

"  Oh,  had  I,  what  was  I  saying  ?  " 

"  I  can't  tell  you  to  the  very  word :  I  am  not  your 
sweetheart  any  more  than  she  is ;  but  one  of  the  sailors 
was  in  danger  of  his  life,  and  so  on ;  you  never  told  me 
the  story  before.  I  was  not  worth  it.  Well,  just  then 
does  not  that  affected  puppy  choose  his  time  to  come 
meandering  in  ?  " 

"Puppy  ?     I  call  him  a  fine  gentleman." 

"  Well,  there  isn't  so  much  odds.  In  he  comes  :  your 
story  is  broken  off  directly.  Does  she  care  ?  No,  she 
has  got  one  of  her  own  set ;  he  is  not  a  very  bright  one ; 
he  is  next  door  to  a  fool.  oSTo  matter ;  before  he  came, 
to  judge  by  her  crocodile  eyes,  she  was  hot  after  your 
story ;  the  moment  he  did  come,  she  didn't  care  a  pin  for 
you  7ior  your  story.  I  gave  her  more  than  one  opening 
to  bring  it  on  again ;  not  she.  I  tell  you  you  are  nothing 
but  a  2)(iss  time,^  you  suit  her  turn  so  long  as  none  of 

1  I  write  this  word  as  the  lady  thought  proper  to  pronounce  it. 


78  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ]ME   LONG. 

her  own  set  are  to  be  had.  If  slie  would  leave  you  for 
such  a  jackanapes  as  that,  what  would  she  do  for  a  real 
gentleman,  such  a  man  as  she  is  a  woman  for  instance, 
and  as  if  there  weren't  plenty  such  in  her  own  set  —  oh, 
you  goose ! " 

David  interrupted  her.  ''  I  have  been  a  vain  fool,  and 
it  is  lucky  no  one  has  seen  it  but  you,"  and  he  hid  his 
face  in  his  hands  a  moment :  then,  suddenly  remember- 
ing where  he  was,  and  that  this  was  an  attitude  to  attract 
attention,  he  tried  to  laugh  —  a  piteous  effort ;  then  he 
ground  his  teeth  and  said,  "  Let  us  go  home.  All  I  want 
now  is  to  get  out  of  the  house.  It  would  have  been 
better  for  me  if  I  had  never  set  foot  in  it." 

"  Hush !  be  calm,  David,  for  heaven's  sake.  I  am 
only  waiting  to  catch  her  eye,  and  then  we'll  bid  them 
good-evening." 

"  Very  well,  I'll  wait ; "  and  David  fixed  his  eyes 
sadly  and  doggedly  on  the  ground.  "I  won't  look  at 
her  if  I  can  help,"  said  he  resolutely,  but  very  sadly, 
and  turned  his  head  away. 

"NoAv,  David,"  Whispered  Eve. 

David  rose  mechanically  and  moved  with  his  sister 
towards  the  other  group.  Miss  Fountain  turned  at  their 
approach.  Somewhat  to  David's  surprise,  Eve  retreated 
as  quietly  as  she  had  advanced. 

"  We  are  to  stay." 

"What  for?" 

"  She  made  me  a  signal." 

"  iSTot  that  I  saw,"  said  David  incredulously. 

''  What,  didn't  you  see  her  give  me  a  look  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  did.     But  what  has  that  to  do  with  it  ?  " 

"  That  look  was  as  much  as  to  say,  Please  stay  a  little 
longer,  I  have  something  to  say  to  you." 

" Good  heavens  !  " 

"  I  think  it  is  about  a  bonnet,  David.     I  asked  her  to 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  79 

put  me  ill  the  way  of  getting  one  made  like  hers.  She 
does  wear  heavenly  bonnets." 

"  Ay.  I  did  well  to  listen  to  you,  Eve :  you  see  I 
can't  even  read  her  face,  much  less  her  heart.  I  saw 
her  look  up,  but  that  was  all.  How  is  a  poor  fellow  to 
make  out  such  craft  as  these  that  can  signal  one  another 
a  whole  page  with  a  flash  of  the  eye  ?     Ah  ! " 

"■  There,  David,  he  is  going.     Was  I  right  ?  " 

Mr.  Talboys  was  in  fact  taking  leave  of  Miss  Fountain. 
The  old  gentleman  convoyed  his  friend.  As  the  door 
closed  on  them.  Miss  Fountain's  face  seemed  to  catch 
fire.  Her  sweet  complacency  gave  way  to  a  half-joyous, 
half-irritated  small  energy :  she  came  gliding  swiftly 
through  not  hurriedly  up  to  Eve :  "  Thank  you  for  see- 
ing." Then  she  settled  softly  and  gradually  on  an 
ottoman,  saying,  "  Xow,  Mr.  Dodd." 

David  looked  puzzled.  ''  What  is  it  ?  "  and  he  turned 
to  his  interpreter  Eve. 

But  it  was  Lucy  who  replied,  " '  His  messmate  was 
crying  like  a  child.  At  sunrise  poor  Tom  must  die. 
Then  up  rose  one  fellow  (we  have  not  an  idea  who  one 
fellow  means  in  these  narratives  ;  have  we,  Miss  Dodd  ?) 
and  cried,  "  I  have  it,  messmates.  Tom  isn't  dead  yet." ' 
Now  Mr.  Dodc^,  between  that  sentence  and  the  one  that 
is  to  follow,  all  that  has  happened  in  this  room  was  a 
hideous  dream :  on  that  understanding  we  have  put  up 
with  it  —  it  is  now  happily  dispersed,  and  we  —  go  ahead 
again." 

"  I  see.  Eve,  she  thinks  she  would  like  some  more  of 
that  China  yarn." 

"  Her  sentiments  are  not  so  tame.  She  longs  for  it, 
thirsts  for  it,  and  must  and  will  have  it  — if  you  will  be 
so  very  obliging,  Mr.  Dodd."  The  contrast  between  all 
this  singular  vivacity  of  Miss  Fountain,  and  the  sudden 
return  to  her  native  character  and  manner  in  the  last 


80  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   INIE   LONG. 

sentence,  struck  the  sister  as  very  droll ;  seemed  to  the 
brother  so  winning,  that,  scarcely  master  of  himself, 
he  burst  out,  "  You  shan't  ask  me  twice  for  that,  or  any- 
thing I  can  give  you : "  and  it  was  with  burning  cheeks 
and  happy  eyes  he  resumed  his  tale  of  bold  adventure 
and  skill  on  one  side,  of  numbers,  danger,  and  difficulty 
on  the  other.  He  told  it  now  like  one  inspired,  and  both 
the  young  ladies  hung  panting  and  glowing  on  his 
words. 

David  and  Eve  went  home  together. 

David  was  in  a  triumphant  state,  but  waited  for  Eve 
to  congratulate  him.     Eve  was  silent. 

At  last  David  could  refrain  no  longer.  "^AHiy,  you 
say  nothing." 

"No.  Common-sense  is  too  good  to  be  wasted  — 
don't  go  so  fast." 

''No.  There  —  I  heave-to  for  convoy  to  close  up  — 
would  it  be  wasted  on  me  ?  ha,  ha ! " 

''  To-night.     There  you  go  pelting  on  again." 

"  Eve,  I  can't  help  it.  I  feel  all  canvas,  with  a  cargo 
of  angels'  feathers,  and  sunshine  for  ballast." 

"  Moonshine." 

"  Sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  all  that  is  bright  by  night 
or  day.  I'll  tell  you  what  do  ;  you  keep  your  head  free 
and  come  on  under  easy  sail:  I'll  stand  across  your 
bows  with  every  rag  set  and  drawing :  so  then  I  shall 
be  always  within  hail." 

This  sober-minded  manoeuvre  was  actually  carried  out. 
The  little  corvette  sailed  steadily  down  the  middle  of 
the  lane  ;  the  great  merchant-man  went  pitching  and 
rolling  across  her  bows  :  thus  they  kept  together  though 
their  rates  of  sailing  were  so  different. 

Merry  Eve  never  laughed  once  ;  but  she  smiled ;  and 
then  sighed. 

David  did  not  heed  her:  all  of  a  moment  his  heart 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    ME   LONG.  81 

vented  itself  in  a  sea  ditty  so  loud  and  clear  and  mellow, 
that  windows  opened,  and  out  came  niglitcapped  heads 
to  hear  him  carol  the  lusty  stave  making  night  jolly. 

Meantime,  the  weather  being  balmy,  Mr.  Fovmtain  had 
walked  slowly  with  Mr.  Talboys  in  another  direction. 
Mr.  Talboys  inquired,  "  Who  were  those  people  ?  "  "  Oh, 
only  two  humble  neighbors,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  never  met  them  anywhere.  They  are  received  in 
the  neighborhood  ?  " 

"Not  in  society,  of  course." 

"  I  don't  understand  you.  Have  not  I  just  met  them 
here  ?  " 

''That  is  not  the  way  to  put  it,"  said  the  old  gentle- 
man, a  little  confused.  "  You  did  not  meet  them ;  you 
did  me  and  my  niece  the  honor  to  dine  with  us,  and  the 
Dodds  dropped  in  to  tea  —  quite  another  matter." 

"  Oh,  is  it  ?  " 

"  Is  it  not  ?  I  see ;  you  have  been  so  long  out  of 
England,  you  have  forgotten  these  little  distinctions; 
society  would  go  to  the  deuce  without  them.  We  ask 
our  friends,  and  persons  of  our  own  class,  to  dinner,  but 
Ave  ask  who  we  like  to  tea  in  this  county.  Don't  you 
like  her  ?  she  is  the  prettiest  girl  in  the  village." 

"  Pretty  and  pert." 

"  Ha  —  ha  —  that  is  true  —  she  is  saucy  enough,  and 
amusing  in  proportion." 

"  It  is  the  man  I  alluded  to." 

"  What,  David  ?  ay,  a  very  worthy  lad.  He  is  a  down- 
right modest,  well-informed  young  man." 

"  I  don't  doubt  his  general  merits,  but  let  me  ask  you 
a  serious  question.  His  evident  admiration  of  Miss 
Fountain  ?  " 

"  His  ad-mi-ration  of  Miss  Fountain  ?  " 

"  It  is  agreeable  to  you  ?  " 

"It  is  a  matter  of  consummate  indifference  to  me." 
6 


82  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   JIE  LONG. 

"  But  not,  I  tliink,  to  lier  —  she  showed  a  submission 
to  the  cub's  impertinence,  and  a  desire  to  please  instead  of 
putting  him  down,  that  made  me  suspect  —  Do  you  often 
ask  Mr.  Dodd  —  what  a  name  !  —  to  tea  ?  " 

"  My  dear  friend,  I  see  that  with  all  your  accomplish- 
ments you  have  something  to  learn ;  you  want  insight 
into  female  character :  now  I,  who  must  go  to  school  to 
you  on  most  points,  can  be  of  use  to  you  here : "  then 
seeing  that  Talboys  was  mortified  at  being  told  thus 
gently  there  was  a  department  of  learning  he  had  not 
fathomed,  he  added,  "  at  all  events,  I  can  interpret  my 
own  niece  to  you.  I  have  known  her  much  longer  than 
you  have." 

Mr.  Talboys  requested  the  interpreter  to  explain  the 
pleasure  his  niece  took  in  Mr.  Dodd's  fiddle. 

"  Part  politeness  —  part  sham  —  why,  she  wanted  not 
to  ask  them  this  evening,  the  fiddle  especially.  I'll  give 
you  the  clew  to  Lucy  ;  she  is  a  female  Chesterfield,  and 
the  droll  thing  is  she  is  polite  at  heart  as  well.  Takes 
it  from  her  mother :  she  was  something  between  an 
angel  and  a  duchess." 

"  Politeness  does  not  account  for  the  sort  of  partiality 
she  showed  for  these  Dodds  while  I  was  in  the  room." 

''Pure  imagination,  my  dear  friend.  I  was  there  ;  and, 
had  so  monstrous  a  phenomenon  occurred,  I  must  have 
seen  it.  If  you  think  she  could  really  prefer  their 
society  to  yours,  you  are  as  unjust  to  her  as  to  yourself. 
She  may  have  concealed  her  real  preference  out  oi  finesse, 
or  perhaps  she  has  observed  that  our  inferiors  are  touchy, 
and  ready  to  fancy  we  slight  them  for  those  of  our  own 
rank." 

Talboys  shrugged  his  shoulders ;  he  was  but  half  con- 
vinced. "Her  enthusiasm  when  the  cub  scraped  the 
fiddle  went  beyond  mere  politeness." 

"  Beyond  other  people's,  you  mean.     Nothing  on  earth 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  83 

ever  went  beyond  hers  —  ha,  ha,  ha  !  To-morrow  night, 
if  you  like,  we  will  have  my  gardener  Jack  Absolom  in 
to  tea." 

"  No,  I  thank  you.  I  have  no  wish  to  go  beyond  Mr. 
and  Miss  Dodd." 

"  Oh,  only  for  an  experiment.  The  first  minute  Jack 
will  be  wretched,  and  want  to  sink  through  the  floor. 
But  in  five  minutes  you  will  find  Lucy  will  have  made 
Jack  Absolom  at  home  in  my  drawing-room.  He  will  be 
laying  down  the  law  about  jonquils,  and  she  all  sweet- 
ness, curiosity,  and  enthusiasm  outside  —  enmn  in." 

"  Can  her  eyes  glisten  out  of  politeness  ?  "  inquired 
Talboys,  with  a  subdued  sneer. 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  They  could  shed  tears  perhaps  for  the  same  motive  ?  " 
said  Talboys,  with  crushing  irony. 

"  Well  ?     Hum  ?     I'd  back  them  at  four  to  seven." 

Mr.  Talboys  was  silent,  and  his  manner  showed  that 
he  was  a  little  mortified  at  a  subject  turning  to  joke 
which  he  had  commenced  seriously.  He  must  stop  this 
annoyance.  He  said  severely,  "  It  is  time  to  come  to  an 
understanding  with  you." 

At  these  words,  and  above  all  at  their  solemn  tone,  the 
senior  pricked  his  ears,  and  prepared  his  social  diplomacy. 

"  I  have  visited  very  frequently  at  your  house,  Mr, 
Fountain." 

"Never  without  being  welcome,  my  dear  sir." 

"You  have,  I  think,  divined  one  reason  of  my  very 
frequent  visits  here." 

"I  have  not  been  vain  enough  to  attribute  them 
entirely  to  my  own  attractions." 

"  You  approve  the  homage  I  render  to  that  other 
attraction  ?  " 

"  Unfeignedly." 

"  Am  I  so  fortunate  as  to  have  her  suffrage  too  ?  " 


84  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"I  have  no  better  means  of  knowing  than  you  have." 

"Indeed.  I  was  in  hopes  you  might  have  sounded 
her  inclinations." 

"  I  have  scrupulously  avoided  it,"  replied  the  veteran. 
''I  had  no  right  to  compromise  you  upon  mere  conjecture 
however  reasonable.  I  awaited  your  authority  to  take 
any  move  in  so  delicate  a  matter.  Can  you  blame  me  ? 
On  one  side  my  friend's  dignity,  on  the  other  a  young 
lady's  peace  of  mind,  and  that  young  lady  my  brother's 
daughter." 

"  You  were  right,  my  dear  sir ;  I  see  and  appreciate 
your  reserve,  your  delicacy;  though  I  am  about  to 
remove  its  cause.  I  declare  myself  to  you  your  niece's 
admirer  ;  have  I  your  permission  to  address  her  ?  " 

"You  have,  and  my  warmest  wishes  for  your  suc- 
cess." 

"  Thank  you.  I  think  I  may  hope  to  succeed,  provided 
I  have  a  fair  chance  afforded  me." 

"  I  will  take  care  you  shall  have  that." 

"  I  should  prefer  not  to  have  others  buzzing  about  the 
lady  whose  affection  I  am  just  beginning  to  gain." 

"You  pay  this  poor  sailor  an  amazing  compliment," 
said  Mr.  Fountain  a  little  testily ;  "  if  he  admires  Lucy, 
it  can  only  be  as  a  puppy  is  struck  with  the  moon  above. 
The  moon  does  not  respond  to  all  this  wonder  by  descend- 
ing into  the  whelp's  jaws:  no  more  will  my  niece.  But 
that  is  neither  liere  nor  there  ;  you  are  now  her  declared 
suitor,  and  have  a  right  to  stipulate ;  in  short,  you  have 
only  to  say  the  word,  and  'exeunt  Dodds '  as  the  play- 
books  say." 

"Dodds?  I  have  no  objection  to  the  lady;  would  it 
not  be  possible  to  invite  her  to  tea  alone  ?  " 

"  Quite  possible,  but  useless :  she  would  not  stir  out 
without  her  brother." 

"  She  seems  a  little  jjerson  likely  to  give  herself  airsj 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.       85 

well  then,  in  that  case,  though  as  you  say  I  am  no  doubt 
raising  Mr.  Dodcl  to  a  false  importance,  still "  — 

"Say  no  more;  we  should  indulge  the  whims  of  our 
friends,  not  attack  them  with  reasons.  You  will  see  the 
Dodds  no  more  in  my  house." 

"  Oh,  as  to  that,  just  as  you  please.  Perhaps  they 
would  be  as  well  out  of  it,"  said  Talboys,  with  a  sudden 
affectation  of  carelessness.  "I  must  not  take  you  too 
far ;  good  night." 

"  Go-o-d  night ! " 

Poor  David.  He  was  to  learn  how  little  real  hold 
upon  society  has  the  man  who  can  only  instruct  and 
delight  it. 

Mr.  Fountain  bustled  home,  rubbing  his  hands  with 
delight.  "Aha!"  thought  he,  "jealous,  actually  jeal- 
ous !  absurdly  jealous !  That  is  a  good  sign.  Who 
would  have  thought  so  proud  a  man  could  be  jealous  of 
a  sailor  ?  I  have  found  out  your  vulnerable  point,  my 
friend.  I'll  tell  Lucy :  how  she  will  laugh !  David 
Dodd !  Now  we  know  how  to  manage  him,  Lucy  and  I. 
If  he  freezes  back  again,  we  have  but  to  send  for  David 
Dodd,  and  his  fiddle."  He  bustled  home  and  up  into 
the  drawing-room  to  tell  Lucy  Mr.  Talboys  had  at  last 
declared  himself.  His  heart  felt  warm.  He  would  settle 
six  thousand  pounds  on  Mrs.  Talboys  during  his  life,  and 
his  whole  fortune  after  his  death. 

He  found  the  drawing-room  empty.  He  rang  the  bell. 
"'  Where  is  Miss  Fountain  ? "  John  didn't  know,  but 
supposed  she  had  gone  to  her  room. 

"  You  don't  know  ?  You  never  know  anything.  Send 
her  maid  to  me." 

The  maid  came  and  courtesied  demurely  at  the  door. 

"  Tell  your  mistress  I  want  to  speak  to  her  directly ; 
before  she  undresses." 

The  maid  went  out,  and  soon  returned  to  say  that  her 


86  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

mistress  had  retired  to  rest,  but  that  if  he  pleased  she 
would  rise  and  just  make  a  derai-to-let,  and  come  to  him. 
This  smooth  and  fair-sounding  proposal  was  not,  I  grieve 
to  say,  so  graciously  received  as  offered.  "  Much  obliged," 
snapped  old  Fountain.  ''  Her  demi-toilette  will  keep  me 
another  hour  out  of  my  bed,  and  I  get  no  sleep  after 
dinner  now  amongst  you.  Tell  her  to-morrow  at  break- 
fast-time will  do." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  87 


CHAPTER   IV. 

David  Dodd  was  so  radiant  and  happy  for  a  day  or 
two  that  Eve  had  not  the  heart  to  throw  cokl  water  on 
him  again. 

Three  days  elapsed,  and  no  invitation  to  Font  Abbey : 
on  this  his  happiness  cooled  of  itself.  But  when  day 
after  day  rolled  by,  and  no  Font  Abbey,  he  was  dashed, 
uneasy,  and  above  all  perplexed.  What  could  be  the 
reason  ?  Had  he  with  his  rough  ways  offended  her  ? 
had  she  been  too  dignified  to  resent  it  at  the  time  ? 
Was  he  never  to  go  to  Font  Abbey  again  ? 

Eve's  first  feeling  was  unmixed  satisfaction.  We  have 
seen  already  that  she  expected  no  good  from  this  rash 
attachment.  For  a  single  moment  her  influence  and 
reasons  had  seemed  to  wean  David  from  it,  but  his  vio- 
lent agitation  and  joy  at  two  words  of  kindly  curiosity 
from  Miss  Fountain,  and  the  instant  unreasonable  revival 
of  love  and  hope,  showed  the  strange  power  she  had 
acquired  over  him.     It  made  Eve  tremble. 

But  now  the  Fountains  were  aiding  her  to  cure  this 
folly.  She  had  read  them  right,  had  described  them  to 
David  aright.  A  wind  of  caprice  had  carried  him  and 
her  into  Font  Abbey ;  another  such  wind  was  carrying 
them  out.  No  event  had  happened.  Mr.  and  Miss 
Fountain  had  been  seen  more  than  once  in  the  village  of 
late.  "  They  have  dropped  us,  and  thank  Heaven,"  said 
Eve  in  her  idiomatic  way. 

She  pitied  David  deeply,  and  was  kinder  and  kinder 
to  him  now  to  show  him  she  felt  for  him,  but  she  never 
mentioned  the  Font  Abbey  people  to  him  either  to  praise 


88       LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

or  blame  them,  though  it  was  all  she  could  do  to  suppress 
her  satisfaction  at  the  turn  their  insolent  caprice  had 
taken. 

That  satisfaction  was  soon  clouded.  This  time,  instead 
of  rousing  himself  and  his  pride,  David  sank  into  a 
moody  despondency  varied  by  occasional  fretfulness : 
his  appetite  went,  and  his  bright  color,  and  his  elastic 
step :  this  silent  sadness  was  so  new  in  him  :  such  a 
contrast  to  his  natural  temperament,  large,  genial,  and 
ever  cheerful,  that  Eve  could  not  bear  it ;  "I  must  shake 
him  out  of  this,  at  all  hazards,"  thought  she :  yet  she  put 
off  the  experiment,  and  put  it  off,  partly  in  hopes  that 
David  would  speak  first,  partly  because  she  saw  the 
wound  she  must  probe  was  deep,  and  she  winced  before- 
hand for  her  patient. 

Meantime  prolonged  doubt  and  suspense  now  goaded 
with  their  intolerable  stings  the  active  spirit  that  chill 
misgivings  had  at  first  benumbed.  Spurred  into  action 
by  these  torments,  David  had  already  watched  several 
days  in  the  neighborhood  of  Font  Abbey,  determined  to 
speak  to  Miss  Fountain,  and  find  out  whether  he  had 
given  her  offence ;  for  this  was  still  his  uppermost  idea. 
Having  failed  in  this  attempt  at  an  interview  with  her, 
he  was  now  meditating  a  more  resolute  course,  and  he 
paced  the  little  gravel-walk  at  home  debating  in  himself 
the  pros  and  cons.  Raising  his  head  suddenly  he  saw 
his  sister  walking  slowly  at  the  other  end  of  the  path. 
She  was  coming  towards  him,  but  her  eyes  were  bent 
thoughtfully  on  tlie  ground.  David  slipped  behind  some 
bushes,  not  to  have  his  unhappiness  and  his  meditations 
interrupted.  The  lover  and  tlie  lunatic  have  points  in 
common. 

He  had  been  there  some  time  when  a  grave  little  voice 
spoke  quietly  to  him  from  the  lawn.  "  David,  I  want  to 
speak  to  you."     David  came  out. 


LOVE   UE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  89 

«  Here  am  I." 

"  Oh,  I  knew  where  you  were.  Don't  do  that  again, 
sir,  please,  or  you'll  catch  it." 

"  Oh !  I  didn't  think  you  saw  me,"  said  David  some- 
what confusedly. 

"  What  has  that  to  do  with  it,  stupid  ?  David,"  con- 
tinued she,  assuming  a  benevolent,  cheerful,  and  some- 
what magnificent  nonchalance,  "  I  sometimes  wonder  you 
don't  come  to  me  with  your  troubles.  I  might  advise 
you  as  well  as  here  and  there  one.  But  perhaps  you 
think  now,  because  I  am  naturally  gay,  I  am  not  sensible. 
You  mustn't  go  by  that  altogether.  Ma,nner  is  very  de- 
ceiving. The  most  foolishly-conducted  men  and  women 
ever  I  met  were  as  grave  as  judges,  and  as  demure  as 
cats  after  cream.  Bless  you  !  there  is  folly  in  every 
heart.  Your  slow  ones  bottle  it  up  for  iise  against  the 
day  wisdom  shall  be  most  needed.  My  sort  let  it  fizz  out 
at  their  mouths  in  their  daily  talk,  and  keep  their  good 
sense  for  great  occasions,  like  the  present." 

"  Have  we  drifted  among  the  proverbs  of  Solomon  ?  " 
inquired  David,  diyly.  "'No  need  to  make  so  many 
tacks,  Eve.  Haven't  I  seen  yonr  sense  and  profited  by 
it  —  I  and  one  or  two  more  ?  Who  but  you  has  steered 
the  house  this  ten  years,  and  commanded  the  lubberly 
crew  ?  "  ^ 

"  And  then  again,  David,  where  the  heart  is  concerned, 
young  women  are  naturally  in  advance  of  young  men." 

"  God  knows.     He  made  them  both.     I  don't." 

"Why,  all  the  world  knows  it.  And  then,  besides,  I 
am  five  years  older  than  you." 

"  So  mother  says  :  but  I  don't  know  how  to  believe  it. 
No  one  would  say  so,  to  look  at  you." 

'  The  reader  must  not  be  misled  by  the  familiar  phraseoloftj'  of  these  two 
speakers,  to  suppose  that  anything  the  least  droll  or  humorous  was  intended 
by  either  of  them  at  any  part  of  this  singular  dialogue.  Their  hearts  were 
sad,  and  their  faces  grave. 


90  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   INIE   LONG. 

"  I'll  tell  you,  David.  Folk  tliat  liave  small  features 
look  a  deal  you-nger  tliau  their  years ;  aud  you  know 
poor  father  used  to  say  my  face  was  the  pattern  of  a  flat- 
iron  :  so  nobody  gives  me  my  age :  but  I  am  five  good 
years  older  than  you ;  only  you  need  not  go  and  tell  the 
town-crier." 

"Well,  Eve?" 

'■'■  Well  then,  put  all  these  together,  and  now  why  not 
come  to  nie  for  friendly  advice,  and  the  voice  of 
reason  ? " 

''Reason  !  reason  !  there  are  other  lights  beside  reason." 

"  Jack-o'-lantern,  eh  ?  and  will-o'-the-wisp." 

"Eve,  nobody  can  advise  me  that  can't  feel  for  me. 
Nobody  can  feel  for  me  that  doesn't  know  my  pain :  and 
you  don't  know  that,  because  you  were  never  in  love." 

"  Oh,  then  if  I  had  ever  been  in  love,  you  w^ould  listen." 

"  As  I  would  to  an  angel  from  heaven." 

"And  be  advised  by  me." 

"  Why  not  ?  for  then  you'd  be  competent  to  advise  : 
but  now  you  haven't  an  idea  what  you  are  talking  about." 

"  What  a  pity  !  Don't  you  think  it  would  be  as  well 
if  you  were  not  to  speak  to  me  so  sulky  ?  " 

"  I  ask  your  pardon,  Eve.  I  did  not  mean  to  offend 
you." 

"  Davy  dear  —  for  God's  sake,  what  is  this  chill  that 
has  come  between  you  and  me  ?  You  are  a  man.  Speak 
out  like  a  man." 

David  turned  his  great  calm  sorrowful  eye  fi;ll  upon 
her. 

"  Well  then,  Eve,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  I  am  dis- 
appointed in  you." 

"Oh,  David!" 

"  A  little.  You  are  not  the  girl  I  took  you  for.  You 
know  w^hich  way  my  fancy  lies ;  yet  you  keep  steering 
me  in  the  teeth  of  it :  then  you  see  how  doAvnhearted  I 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.       91 

am  this  while  :  but  not  a  word  of  comfort  or  hope  comes 
from  you ;  and  me  almost  dried  up  for  want  of  one." 

"Make  one  word  of  it,  David:  I  am  not  a  sister  to 
you." 

"I  don't  say  that  —  but  you  might  be  kinder:  you  are 
against  me  just  when  I  want  you  with  me  the  most." 

"  Now  this  is  what  I  like,"  said  Eve,  cheerfully  :  "  this 
is  plain  speaking.  So  now  it  is  my  turn,  my  lad.  Do 
you  remember  Balaam  and  his  ass  ?  " 

"  Sure,"  said  David :  but  used  as  he  was  to  Eve's  tran- 
sitions, he  couldn't  help  staring  a  little  at  being  carried 
eastward  ho  so  suddenly. 

"  Then  what  did  the  ass  say  when  she  broke  silence  at 
last?" 

"Well,  you  know,  Eve,  I  take  shame  to  say  I  don't 
remember  her  very  words ;  but  the  tune  of  them  T  do. 
Why,  she  sang  out,  '  Avast  there,  it  is  my  first  fault ;  so 
you  needn't  be  so  hasty  with  your  thundering  rope's- 
end.'  " 

"  There !  You'd  make  a  nice  commentator.  You 
haven't  taken  it  up  one  bit :  you  are  as  much  in  the 
dark  as  our  parson.  He  preached  on  her  the  very  Sun- 
day you  came  home  ;  and  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  help 
whipping  up  into  the  pulpit,  and  snatching  away  his  book 
and  letting  daylight  in  on  them." 

David  "was  scandalized  at  the  very  idea  of  such  a 
breach  of  discipline.  "  That  is  ridiculous,"  said  he  : 
"  one  can't  have  two  skippers  in  a  church  any  more  than 
in  a  ship,  brig  or  barque.  But  you  can  let  daylight  in  on 
me." 

"  I  mean.  To  begin,  the  ass  was  in  the  right  and 
Balaam  in  the  wrong :  so  what  becomes  of  your  '  first 
fault '  ?  She  was  frugal  of  her  words  ;  but  every  sylla- 
ble was  a  needle :  the  worst  is,  some  skins  are  so  thick 
our  needles  won't  enter  'em.    Says  she, '  This  seven  years 


92  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

you  have  known  me  ;  always  true  to  the  bridle,  and  true 
to  you.  Did  ever  1  disobey  you  before  ?  Then  why  go 
and  fancy  I  do  it  without  some  great  cause,  that  you 
can't  see  ?  '  Then  the  man's  eyes  were  opened,  and  he 
saw  it  was  destruction  his  old  friend  had  run  back  from, 
and  galled  his  foot  to  save  his  life :  so  of  course  he 
thanked  her  and  blessed  her  then.  Not  he.  He  was  too 
much  of  a  man." 

"  Ay,  ay,  I  see,  but  what  is  the  moral  ?  for  I  have  no 
heart  to  expound  riddles." 

"  Oh,  I'll  tell  you  the  moral  sooner  than  you'll  like, 
perhaps.  The  ass  is  a  type,  David.  In  Holy  \yrit  you 
know  almost  every  thing  is  a  type :  when  a  thing  means 
one  thing  and  stands  for  another,  that's  a  type." 

"  Ducks  can  swim.  At  least  I've  heard  so.  Now,  if 
you  could  tell  me'  what  she  is  a  type  of  ?  " 

"  What,  the  ass  ?  don't  you  know  ?  Why,  of  women, 
to  be  sure.  Of  us  poor  creatures  of  burden,  underrated 
and  misunderstood  all  the  world  over.  And  Balaam,  he 
stands  for  men ;  —  and  for  you  at  the  head  of  them," 
cried  she,  turning  round  with  flashing  eyes  on  David: 
"  you  have  known  me  and  my  true  affection  more  than 
seven  years,  or  seventeen.  I  carried  you  in  my  arms 
when  you  were  a  year  old,  and  I  Avas  six.  You  were 
my  little  curly-headed  darling  then,  and  have  been  from 
that  day  to  this.  Did  ever  I  cross  you,  or  be  cold  or 
unkind  to  you  till  the  other  day  ?  " 

"  No,  Eve,  no,  no,  no  !     Come  sit  beside  me  !  " 

_"Then  shouldn't  you  have  said  —  don't  slobber  7ne  — 
I  won't  have  it  —  you  and  I  are  bad  friends  —  oughtn't 
you  to  have  said,  '  Eve  could  never  give  herself  the  pain 
of  crossing  me '  (no,  there  isn't  a  man  in  the  world  with 
gumption  enough  to  say  that :  that  is  a  woman's  thought), 
but  at  least  j^ou  might  have  said,  '  She  sees  rocks  ahead 
that  I   can't.'     (Balaam,  couldn't  see  the  drawn  sword 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.       93 

ahead,  but  there  it  was.)  It  was  for  you  to  say,  '  My 
sister  Eve  woukl  not  change  from  gay  to  grave  all  at 
once,  and  from  indulging  me  in  everything  to  thwarting 
me  and  vexing  me,  unless  she  saw  some  great  danger 
threatening  3-our  peace  of  mind,  your  career  in  life,  your 
very  reason,  perhaps.'  " 

"  I  have  been  to  blame.  Eve :  but  speak  out,  and  let 
me  know  the  worst  —  you  have  heard  something  against 
her  character  ?     Speak  plain  out  for  Heaven's  sake  ! " 

"  It  is  all  very  well  of  you  to  say  sjieak  plain  out ;  but 
there  are  things  girls  don't  like  to  speak  about  to  any 
man.  But  after  what  you  said  that  you  would  listen  to 
me  if  I  —  so  it  is  my  duty.  You  will  see  my  face  red 
enough  in  about  a  minute.  Two  years  ago  I  couldn't  have 
done  this  even  for  you.  It  is  hard  I  must  expose  my 
own  folly,  my  own  crime." 

"  Why,  Eve,  lass,  how  you  tremble  !  Drop  it  now  ! 
drop  it ! " 

''  Hold  your  tongue  !  "  said  Eve,  sharply,  but  in  con- 
siderable agitation.  "  It  is  too  late  now ;  after  some- 
thing you  have  said  to  me.  If  I  didn't  speak  out  now,  I 
should  be  like  that  bad  man  you  told  us  of,  who  let  out 
the  beacon  light  when  the  wind  was  blowing  hard  on 
shore.  Listen,  David,  and  take  my  words  to  heart.  The 
road  you  are  on  now  —  I  have  been  upon ;  only  I  went 
much  further  on  it  than  you  shall  go "  —  she  resumed 
after  a  short  pause,  "  You  remember  Henry  Dyke  ?  " 

"  What,  the  young  clergyman  avIio  used  to  be  always 
alongside  you  at  our  last  anchorage  ?  " 

*' Yes.  He  was  just  such  a  man  as  Miss  Fountain  is 
a  woman.  He  was  but  a  dish  of  skim-milk  —  yet  he 
could  poison  my  life." 

Then  Eve  told  the  story  of  her  heart.  She  described 
her  lover  as  he  appeared  to  her  in  the  early  days  of 
courtship,  young,  handsome,  good,  noble  in  sentiment, 


94  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LOKG. 

and  warm  and  tender  in  manner.     Halcyon  days,  not  a 
speck  to  be  seen  in  love's  horizon. 

Then  she  delineated  the  fine  gradations  by  which  the 
illusion  faded,  too  slowly  and  too  late  for  her  to  with- 
draw the  love  she  had  conceived  for  his  person  at  that 
time  when  person  and  mind  seemed  alike  suj^erior.  She 
painted  with  the  delicate  touch  of  her  sex  the  portrait 
of  a  man  and  a  scholar  born  to  please  all  the  world,  and 
incapable  of  condensing  his  affections :  a  pious  flirt,  no 
longer  stimulated  to  genuine  ardor  by  doubts  of  success ; 
but  too  kind-hearted  to  pain  her  beyond  measure,  when 
a  little  factitious  warmth  from  time  to  time  would  give 
her  hours  of  happiness,  keep  her  on  the  whole  content, 
and,  above  all,  retain  her  his.  Then  she  shifted  the 
mirror  to  herself,  the  fiery  and  faithful  one :  and  showed 
David  what  centuries  of  torture  a  good  little  creature 
like  this  Dyke  with  its  charming  exterior  could  make  a 
quick  and  ardent  and  devoted  nature  suffer  in  a  year  or 
two.  Came  out  in  her  narrative,  link  by  link,  the  gentle 
delicious  complacency  of  the  first  period,  the  chill  airs 
that  soon  ruffled  it,  the  glowing  hopes,  the  misgivings 
that  dashed  them  ;  then  the  diminution  of  confidence, 
more  perplexing  and  exasperating  than  its  utter  loss; 
the  alternations  of  joy  and  doubt,  the  fever  and  the  ague 
of  the  wounded  spirit :  then  the  gusts  of  hatred  followed 
by  deeper  love:  later  still,  the  periodical  irritation  at 
hopes  long  deferred,  and  still  gleams  of  bliss  between 
the  paroxysms  :  so  that  now,  as  the  vulgar  say  in  their 
tremendous  Saxon,  she  "  spent  her  time  between  heaven 
and  hell : "  last  of  all,  the  sickness  and  recklessness  of 
the  worn-out  and  wearied  heart,  over  which  melancholy 
or  fury  impended. 

It  was  at  this  crisis  when,  as  she  could  now  see  on  a 
calm  retrospect,  her  mind  was  distempered,  a  new  and 
terrible  passion  stepped  upon  the  scene  —  jealousy.     A 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  95 

friend  came  and  whispered  lier,  "Mr.  Dyke  was  courting 
another  woman  at  the  same  time,  and  that  other  woman 
was  rich." 

"David,  at  that  word  a  flash  of  lightning  seemed  to 
go  through  me  and  show  me  the  man  as  he  really  was." 

"  The  mean  scoundrel,  to  sell  himself  for  money  ! " 

"  No,  David,  he  would  not  have  sold  himself  with  his 
eyes  open,  any  more  than  perhaps  your  Miss  Fountain 
would ;  but  what  little  heart  he  had  he  could  give  to  any 
girl  that  was  not  a  fright.  He  was  a  self-deceiver,  and 
a  general  lover ;  and  such  characters  and  their  affections 
sink  by  nature  to  where  their  interest  lies.  Iron  is  not 
conscious,  yet  it  creeps  towards  the  loadstone.  Well, 
while  she  was  with  me,  I  held  up  and  managed  to  ques- 
tion her  as  coldly  as  I  speak  to  you  now,  but,  as  soon  as 
she  left  me,  I  went  off  in  violent  hysterics." 

"  Poor  Eve  ! " 

"She  had  not  been  gone  an  hour  when  doesn't  the 
Devil  put  it  into  his  head  to  send  me  a  long  affectionate 
letter,  and  in  the  postscript  he  invited  himself  to  supper 
the  same  afternoon.  Then  I  got  up  and  dried  my  eyes, 
and  I  seemed  to  turn  into  stone  Avith  resolution.  '  Come ! ' 
I  said,  '  but  don't  think  you  shall  ever  go  back  to  her. 
Your  troubles  and  mine  shall  end  to-night.' " 

"  Why,  Eve,  you  turn  pale  with  thinking  of  it.  I  fear 
you  have  had  worse  thoughts  pass  through  your  mind 
than  any  man  is  worth." 

"  David,  your  blood  was  in  my  veins,  and  mine  is  in 
yours." 

"  If  I  didn't  think  so  !  The  Lord  deliver  us  from  temp- 
tation !     We  don't  know  ourselves  nor  those  we  love." 

"  He  had  driven  me  mad." 

"  Mad,  indeed !  what !  had  you  the  heart  to  see  the 
man  bleed  to  death,  the  man  you  had  loved,  you,  my 
little  gentle  Eve  ?  " 


96  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ISIE  LONG. 

"  Oh,  no,  no,  —  no  blood  ! "  said  Eve  witli  a  shudder. 
"  Laudanum !  " 

"  Good  God !  " 

"Oh!  I  see  your  thought;  no,  I  was  not  like  the  men 
in  the  newspapers,  that  kill  the  poor  woman  with  a  sure 
hand  and  then  give  themselves  a  scratch.  It  was  to  he 
one  spoonful  for  him,  but  two  for  me.  I  can't  dAvell  on 
it  (and  she  hid  her  face  in  her  hands) ;  it  is  too  terri- 
ble to  remember  how  far  I  was  misled ;  who,  think  you, 
saved  us  both  ?  "     David  could  not  guess. 

"  A  little  angel,  my  good  angel,  that  came  home  from 
sea  that  very  afternoon.  When  I  saw  your  curly  head, 
and  your  sweet  sunburnt  face,  come  in  at  the  door,  guess 
if  I  thought  of  putting  death  in  the  pot  after  that :  ah ! 
the  love  of  our  own  flesh  and  blood,  that  is  the  love  — 
God  and  good  angels  can  smile  on  it." 

"  Yes ;  but  go  on,"  said  David,  impatiently. 

"  It  is  ended,  David.  They  say  a  woman's  heart  is  a 
riddle ;  and  perhaps  you  will  think  so  when  I  tell  you 
that  when  he  had  brought  me  down  to  this,  and  hadn't 
died  for  it,  I  turned  as  cold  as  ice  to  him  that  minute, 
once  and  forever.  I  looked  back  at  the  precipice,  and  I 
hated  him.  Ay,  from  that  evening  he  was  like  the 
black  dog  to  my  eye.  I  used  to  slip  anywhere  to  hide 
out  of  his  way,  just  as  you  did  out  of  mine  but  now." 

"  Can't  you  forget  that  ?     Well,  to  be  sure.     Well  ?  " 

"So  then  (now  you  may  learn  what  these  skim-milk 
cheeses  are  made  of)  when  he  found  he  was  my  aversion, 
he  fell  in  love  with  me  again  as  hot  as  ever ;  tried  all  he 
could  think  of  to  win  me  back  ;  wrote  a  letter  every  day  ; 
came  to  me  every  other  day,  and  when  he  saw  it  was  all 
over  for  good  between  us,  he  cried  and  bellowed  till  my 
hate  all  went,  and  scorn  came  in  its  place.  Next  time 
we  met  he  played  quite  another  part,  the  calm,  heart- 
broken Christian  J  gave  me  his  blessing,  went  down  on 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  97 

his  knees,  and  praj'ed  a  beautiful  prayer  that  took  me 
off  my  guard  and  made  me  almost  respect  him ;  then 
went  away,  and  quietly  married  the  girl  with  money ; 
and  six  months  after  wrote  to  me  he  was  miserable, 
dated  from  the  vicarage  her  parents  had  got  him." 

"  Now  you  know  if  he  wasn't  a  parson,  d u  me  if  I'd 

turn  in  to-night  till  I'd  rope's-ended  that  lubber ! " 

"  As  if  I'd  let  you  dirty  your  hands  with  such  rubbish. 
I  sent  the  note  back  to  him  with  just  one  line,  '  Such  a 
fool  as  you  are  has  no  right  to  be  a  villain.'  There, 
David,  there  is  your  poor  sister's  life.  Oh,  what  I  went 
through  for  that  man  !  Often  I  said,  is  Heaven  just,  to 
let  a  poor  faithful  loving  girl,  who  has  done  no  harm,  be 
played  with  on  the  hook  and  tortured  hot  and  cold,  day 
after  day,  month  after  month,  year  after  year,  as  I  was  ? 
But  now  I  see  why  it  was  permitted ;  it  was  for  your 
sake,  that  yon  might  profit  by  my  sharp  experience,  and 
not  fling  your  heart  away  on  frozen  mud  as  I  did ; "  and, 
happy  in  this  feminine  theory  of  divine  justice.  Eve 
rested  on  her  brother  a  look  that  would  have  adorned  a 
seraph,  then  took  him  gently  round  the  neck  and  laid 
her  little  cheek  flat  to  his. 

She  felt  as  if  she  had  just  saved  a  beloved  life. 

Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  a  happiness  so  momen- 
tary, yet  so  holy  ? 

Presently,  looking  up,  she  saw  David's  face  illumi- 
nated. "What  is  it?"  she  asked,  joyously ;  "you  look 
pleased." 

David  was  "pleased,  because  now  he  was  sure  she 
could  feel  for  him  and  would  side  with  him." 

"  That  I  do ;  but,  David,  as  it  is  all  over  between  you 
and  her  "  — 

«  All  over  ?     Am  I  dead,  then  ?  " 

Eve  gasped  with  astonishment:  "Why,  what  have  I 
been  telling  you  all  tliis  for  ?  " 
7 


OS  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  W^lio  should  you  tell  your  trouble  to,  but  your  own 
brother  ?  Why,  Eve,  ha,  ha !  you  don't  really  see  any 
likeness  between  your  case  and  mine,  do  you  ?  You  are 
not  so  blind  as  to  compare  her  with  that  thundering 
muff  ? "  • 

"They  are  brother  and  sister,  as  we  are,"  was  the 
reply.  "  Ever  since  I  saw  you  looked  her  way,  my  eye 
has  hardly  been  off  her;  and  she  is  Henry  Dyke  in 
petticoats." 

"  I  don't  thank  you  for  saying  that ;  well,  and  if  she 
is,  what  has  that  to  do  with  it  ?  I  am  not  a  woman.  I 
am  not  forced  to  lie-to,  waiting  for  a  wind,  as  the  girls 
are.  I  am  a  man.  I  can  work  for  the  wish  of  my  heart, 
and,  if  it  does  not  come  to  meet  me,  I  can  overhaul  it." 
Eve  was  a  little  staggered  by  this  thrust ;  but  she  was 
not  one  to  show  an  antagonist  any  advantage  he  had 
obtained. 

"David,"  said  she,  coldly,  "it  must  come  to  one  of 
two  things  :  either  she  will  send  you  about  your  business 
in  form,  which  is  a  needless  affront  for  you  and  me  both, 
or  she  will  hold  you  in  hand,  and  play  with  you  and 
drive  you  mnd.  Take  warning,  remember  what  is  in  our 
blood.  Father  was  as  well  as  you  are ;  but  agitation  and 
vexation  robbed  him  of  his  reason  for  a  while ;  and  you 
and  I  are  his  children.  Milk  of  roses  creeps  along  in 
that  young  lady's  veins,  but  fire  gallops  in  ours.  Give 
her  up,  David,  as  she  has  you.  She  has  let  you  escape ; 
don't  fly  back  like  a  moth  to  the  candle !  you  shan't, 
however ;  I  won't  let  you." 

"  Eve,"  said  David,  quietly,  "  you  argue  well ;  but  you 
can't  argue  light  into  dark,  nor  night  into  day.  She  is 
the  sun  to  me.  I  have  seen  her  light,  and  now  I  can't 
live  without  it."  He  added  more  calmly,  "  It  is  her  or 
none.  I  never  saw  a  girl  but  this  that  I  wanted  to  see 
twice,  and  I  never  shall." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  99 

"But  it  is  tliat  which  frightens  me  for  you,  David. 
Often  I  have  wished  I  could  see  you  flirt  a  bit,  and 
harden  your  heart." 

"  And  break  some  poor  girl's  ?  " 

"  Oh,  hang  them !  they  always  contrive  to  pass  it  on. 
What  do  I  care  for  girls  ?  they  are  not  my  brother. 
But  no,  David,  I  can't  believe  you  will  go  against  me 
and  my  judgment  after  the  insult  she  has  put  on  you  ; 
no  more  about  it,  but  just  you  choose  between  my  respect 
and  this  wild-goose  chase." 

"  I  choose  both,"  said  David,  quietly. 

"  Both  you  shan't  have ; "  and  with  this  up  bounced 
Eve,  and  stood  before  him  bristling  like  a  cat-o'mountain. 
David  tried  to  soothe  her,  to  coax  her  —  in  vain:  her 
cheek  was  on  fire  and  her  eyes  like  basilisks.  It  was  a 
picture  to  see  the  pretty  little  fury  stand  so  erect  and 
threatening,  and  great  David  so  humble  and  deprecating, 
yet  so  dogged.  At  last  he  took  out  his  knife  ;  it  was  not 
one  of  your  stabbing-knives,  but  the  sort  of  pruning- 
knife  that  no  sailor  went  without  in  those  days. 

"Now,"  said  he,  sadly,  "take  and  cut  my  head  off; 
cut  me  to  pieces  if  you  will ;  I  won't  wince  or  complain; 
and  then  you  will  get  your  way ;  but  while  I  do  live  I 
shall  love  her,  and  I  can't  afford  to  lose  her  by  sitting 
twiddling  my  thumbs  waiting  for  luck.  I'll  try  all  I 
know  to  win  her ;  and  if  I  lose  her  I  won't  blame  her, 
but  myself  for  not  finding  out  how  to  please  her;  and 
with  that  I'll  live  a  bachelor  all  my  days  for  her,  or  else 
die,  just  as  God  wills ;  I  shan't  much  care  which." 

"Oh,  I  know  you,  you  obstinate  toad,"  said  Eve, 
clenching  her  teeth  and  her  little  hand.  Then  she  burst 
out  furiously  —  "  Are  you  quite  resolved  ?  " 

"  Quite,  dear  Eve,"  said  David,  sadly ;  but  somehow  it 
was  like  a  rock  speaking. 

"Then  there  is  my  hand/'  said  Eve,  with  an  instant 

D 


100  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

transition  to  amiable  cheerfulness  that  dazzled  a  body 
like  a  dark  lantern  flying  open.  Used  as  David  was  to 
her,  it  stupefied  him ;  he  stared  at  her  and  was  all  abroad. 
"  Well,  what  is  the  wonder  now  ?  "  inquired  Eve  ;  "  there 
are  but  two  of  us.  We  must  be  together  somehow  or 
another,  mustn't  we  ?  You  won't  be  wise  Avith  me ; 
well,  then,  I'll  be  a  fool  Avith  you.  I'll  help  you  with 
this  girl." 

''  Oh !  my  dear  Eve  ! " 

"  You  won't  gain  much.  Without  me  you  hadn't  the 
shadow  of  a  chance,  and  with  me  you  haven't  a  chance ; 
that  is  all  the  odds." 

"  I  have !  I  have !  yovi  have  taken  away  my  breath 
with  joy,"  and  David  was  quite  overcome  at  the  turn 
Eve  had  taken  in  his  favor. 

"Oh,  you  need  not  thank  me,"  said  Eve,  tossing  her 
head  with  an  hypocrisy  all  her  own.  "  It  is  not  out  of 
affection  for  you  I  do  it,  you  may  be  very  sure  of  that. 
But  it  looks  so  ridiculous  to  see  my  brother  slipping  out 
of  my  way  behind  a  tree  as  soon  as  he  sees  me  coming. 
Oh !  oh !  oh !  oh ! "  And  a  violent  burst  of  sobs  and  tears 
revealed  how  that  incident  had  rankled  in  this  stoical 
little  heart. 

David,  with  the  tear  in  his  own  eye,  clasped  her  in  his 
arms,  and  kissed  her  and  coaxed  her,  and  begged  her 
again  and  again  to  forgive  him.  This  she  did  internally 
at  the  first  word;  but  externally,  no;  pouted  and  sobbed 
till  she  had  exacted  her  full  tribute,  then  cleared  up  with 
sudden  alacrity  and  inquired  his  plans. 

"  I  am  going  to  call  at  Font  Abbey  and  find  out  whether 
I  have  offended  her." 

Eve  demurred,  "That  would  never  do.  You  would 
betray  yourself,  and  there  would  be  an  end  of  you.  How 
good  I  am  not  to  let  you  go !  No,  I'll  call  there,  I  shall 
quietly  find  out  whether  it  is  her  doing  that  we  have  not 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  101 

been  invited  so  long,  or  whose  it  is.  You  stay  where 
you  are.     I  won't  be  a  minute." 

When  the  minute  was  thirty-five,  David  came  under 
lier  window  and  called  her;  she  popped  her  head  out, 
"  Well  ?  " 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?  " 

"  Putting  on  my  bonnet." 

"  Why,  you  have  been  an  hour." 

"You  wouldn't  have  me  go  there  a  fright,  would  you  ?  " 

At  last  she  came  down,  and  started  for  Font  Abbey, 
and  David  was  left  to  count  the  minutes  till  her  return. 
He  paced  the  gravel  sailor-wise,  taking  six  steps  and 
then  turning,  instead  of  going  in  each  direction  as  far  as 
he  could.  He  longed  and  feared  his  sister's  return.  One 
hour  —  two  hours  elapsed  —  still  he  walked  a  supposed 
deck  on  the  little  laAvn.  Six  steps,  and  then  turn.  At 
last  he  saw  her  coming  in  the  distance ;  he  ran  to  meet 
lier ;  but  when  he  came  up  with  her  he  did  not  speak, 
but  looked  wistfully  in  her  face,  and  tried  hard  to  read 
it  and  his  fate. 

"  Now,  David,  don't  make  a  fool  of  yourself,  or  I  won't 
tell  you." 

"  No  —  no.     I'll  be  calm,  I  will  —  be  —  calm." 

"  Well,  then,  for  one  thing  —  she  is  to  drink  tea  with 
us  this  evening." 

"She     Who?     What?     Where?     Oh!" 

"Here." 


102  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Mr.  Fountain  Scat  at  breakfast  opposite  his  niece  with 
a  twinkle  set  in  his  eye  like  a  cherry-clack  in  a  tree, 
relishing  beforehand  her  smiles  and  blushes  and  grati- 
tude to  him  for  having  hooked  and  played  his  friend,  so 
that  now  she  had  but  to  land  him.  "I'll  just  finish  this 
delicious  cup  of  coffee,"  thought  he,  "  and  then  I'll  tell 
you,  my  lady."  Whilst  he  was  slowly  sipping  said  cup, 
Lucy  looked  up,  and  said  graciously  to  him,  "  How  silly 
Mr.  Talboys  was  last  night,  was  he  not,  dear  ?  " 

"  Talboys,  silly  ?  what,  do  you  know  ?  Why,  what  on 
earth  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"Silly  is  a  harsh  word ;  injudicious,  then :  praising  me 
a  tort  et  a  travers,  and  was  downright  ill-bred ;  was  dis- 
courteous to  another  of  our  guests,  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  Confound  Mr.  Dodd !  I  wish  I  had  never  invited 
him." 

"  So  do  I.     If  you  remember,  I  dissuaded  you." 

"I  do  remember  now.  What,  you  don't  like  him, 
either  ?  " 

"  There  you  are  mistaken,  dear.  I  esteem  Mr.  Dodd 
highly,  and  Miss  Dodd,  too,  in  spite  of  her  manifest 
defects ;  but  in  making  up  parties,  however  small,  we 
should  choose  our  guests  with  reference  to  each  other, 
not  merely  to  ourselves ;  now,  forgive  me,  it  was  clear 
beforehand  that  Mr.  Fountain  and  the  Dodds,  especially 
Miss  Dodd,  would  never  coalesce.  Hence  my  objection 
to  inviting  them  ;  but  you  overruled  me  —  with  a  rod  of 
iron,  dear." 

"  Yes,  but  why  ?   because  you  gave  me  such  a  bad 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  103 

reason;  you  never  said  a  word  about  this  incon- 
gruity." 

"  But  it  was  in  my  mind  all  the  time." 

"  Then  why  didn't  it  come  out  ?  " 

"Because  —  because  something  else  would  come  out 
instead.  As  if  one  gave  one's  real  reasons  for  things ! 
Now,  uncle  dear,  you  allow  me  great  liberties  ;  but  would 
it  have  been  quite  the  thing  for  me  to  lecture  you  upon 
the  selection  of  your  own  convives  ?  " 

«  Why,  you  have  ended  by  doing  it." 

Lucy  colored.    "Not  till  the  event  proves — not  till"  — 

"Not  till  your  advice  is  no  longer  any  use." 

Lucy,  driven  into  a  corner,  replied  by  an  imploring 
look,  which  had  just  the  opposite  effect  of  argument ;  it 
instantly  disarmed  the  old  boy ;  he  grinned  superior,  and 
spared  his  supple  antagonist  three  sarcasms  that  were 
all  on  the  tip  of  his  tongue.  He  was  rewarded  for  his 
clemency  by  a  little  piece  of  advice,  delivered  by  his 
niece  with  a  sort  of  hesitating  and  penitent  air  he  did 
not  understand  one  bit,  —  eyes  down  upon  the  cloth  all 
the  time. 

It  came  to  this :  he  was  to  listen  to  her  suggestions 
with  a  prejudice  in  their  favor,  if  he  could,  and  give  them 
credit  for  being  backed  by  good  reasons ;  at  all  events, 
he  was  never  to  do  them  the  injustice  to  suppose  they 
rested  on  those  puny  considerations  she  might  put  for- 
ward in  connection  with  them. 

"Silly"  is  a  term  carrying  with  it  a  certain  promptness 
and  decision ;  above  all,  it  was  a  very  remarkable  word 
for  Lucy  to  use.  "The  girl  is  a  martinet  in  these  things," 
thought  he;  "she  can't  forgive  the  least  bit  of  impolite- 
ness. I  suppose  he  snubbed  Jacky  Tar :  what  a  crime  ! 
But  I  had  better  let  this  blow  over  before  I  go  any 
farther."     So  he  postponed  his  disclosure  till  to-morrow. 

But  before  to-morrow  came  he  had  thought  it  over 


104  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

again,  and  convinced  himself  it  would  be  the  wiser  course 
not  to  interfere  at  all  for  the  present,  except  by  throwing 
the  young  people  constantly  together,  lie  had  lived  long 
enough  to  see  that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  husband  and 
wife  might  be  defined :  "  A  man  and  a  woman  that  were 
thrown  a  good  deal  together,  generally  in  the  country. 
A  marries  B,  and  C,  D,  but  under  similar  circumstances, 
i.e.,  thrown  together,  A  would  have  married  D,  and  C,  B. 
This  ap2)lies  to  puppy  dogs,  male  and  female,  as  well  as 
to  boys  and  girls." 

Perhaps  a  personal  feeling  had  some  little  share,  too, 
in  bringing  him  to  the  above  conclusion.  He  was  a  bit 
of  a  schemer,  liked  to  play  puppets.  At  present  his  niece 
and  friend  were  the  largest  and  finest  puppets  he  had  on 
hand;  the  day  he  should  bring  them  to  a  mutual,  rational 
understanding,  the  puppet-strings  would  fall  from  his 
hands,  and  the  puppets  turn  independent  agents.  He 
represented  to  Talboys  that  Lucy  was  young  and  very 
innocent  in  some  respects ;  that  marriage  did  not  seem 
to  run  in  her  head  as  in  most  girls' ;  that  a  2:)recipitate 
avowal  might  startle  her,  and  raise  unnecessary  difficulties 
by  putting  her  on  her  guard  too  early  in  their  acquaint- 
ance. "  You  have  no  rival,"  he  concluded ;  "  best  win  her 
quietly  by  degrees.  Undermine  the  coy  jade !  she  is  worth 
it."  Cool  Talboys  acquiesced.  David  had  spurred  him 
out  of  his  pace  one  night.  But  David  was  put  out  of  the 
way,  the  course  was  clear ;  and,  as  he  could  walk  over  it 
now,  why  gallop  ? 

Childish  as  his  friend's  jealousy  of  this  poor  sailor  had 
seemed  to  Mr.  Fountain,  still,  the  idea  once  started,  he 
could  not  help  inspecting  Lucy  to  see  how  she  would 
take  his  sudden  exclusion  from  these  parties.  Now  Lucy 
missed  the  Dodds  very  much,  and  was  surprised  to  see 
them  invited  no  more.  But  it  was  not  in  her  character 
to  satisfy  a  curiosity  of  this  sort  by  putting  a  point-blank 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  105 

question  to  the  person  who  coukl  tell  her  in  two  words. 
She  was  one  of  tliose  thorough  women  whose  instinct  it 
is  to  find  out  little  things,  not  to  ask  about  them.  When 
day  after  day  passed  by  and  the  Dodds  were  not  invited, 
it  flashed  through  her  mind,  first,  that  there  must  be  some 
reason  for  this ;  secondly,  that  she  had  only  to  take  no 
notice,  and  the  reason,  if  any,  would  be  sure  to  pop  out. 
She  half  suspected  Talboys,  but  she  gave  him  no  sign  '^f 
suspicion.  With  unruffled  demeanor  and  tranquil  patience, 
she  watched  demurely  for  disclosures  from  her  uncle  or 
from  him,  like  the  prettiest  little  velvet  panther  conceiv- 
able lying  flat  in  a  blind  path,  deranging  nobody,  but 
waiting  with  amiable  tranquillity  for  her  friends  to  come 
her  way. 

Thus  under  the  smooth  surface  of  the  little  society  at 
Font  Abbey,  finesse  was  cannily  at  work.  But  the  sur- 
face of  every  society  is  like  the  skin  of  a  man,  —  hides  a 
deal  of  secret  machinery. 

Here  were  two  undermining  a  "coy  jade"  (perhaps,  on 
the  whole.  Uncle  Fountain,  it  might  be  more  prudent  in 
you  not  to  call  her  that  name  again ;  you  see,  she  is  my 
heroine,  and  I  am  a  man  that  could  cut  you  out  of  this 
story,  and  nobody  miss  you),  and  the  coy  jade  watching 
for  the  miners  like  a  sweet  little  velvet  panther,  and,  to 
fling  away  metaphor,  an  honest  heart  set  aching  sore 
hard  by  for  having  come  among  such  a  lot. 


106  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  FABLE  tells  US  a  fowler  one  day  saw  sitting  in  a  tree 
a  wood-pigeon.  This  is  a  very  sliy  bird,  so  he  had  to 
creep  and  manoeuvre  to  get  within  gun-shot  unseen,  un- 
heard. He  stole  from  tree  to  tree,  and  muffled  his  foot- 
steps in  the  long  grass  so  adroitly,  that,  just  as  he  was 
going  to  pull  the  trigger,  he  stepped  light  as  a  feather 
on  a  venomous  snake  ;  it  bit ;  he  died. 

This  is  amusing  and  pointed,  but  a  trifle  severe. 

What  befell  Uncle  fountain,  busy  enmeshing  his  cock 
and  hen  pheasant,  netting  a  niece  and  a  friend,  went  to 
the  same  tune,  but  in  a  lower  key,  as  befitted  a  domestic 
tale.i 

Among  his  letters  at  breakfast  time  came  one,  which 
he  had  no  sooner  read,  than  he  flung  it  on  the  table  and 
went  into  a  fury.  Lucy  sat  aghast :  then  inquired  with 
tender  anxiety  what  was  the  matter  ? 

Angry  explanations  are  apt  to  be  dark  ones.  "  It  is  a 
confounded  shame  —  it  is  a  trick,  child  —  it  is  a  do." 

"  Ah  ?  what  is  that,  uncle  ?  '  a  do  ? '  — '  a  do '  ?  " 

"  Yes,  '  a  do.'  He  knew  I  hate  figures  ;  can't  bear  the 
sight  of  them,  and  the  cursed  responsibility  of  adding 
them  up  right." 

"But  who  knew  all  this  ?  " 

"He  came  over  here  bursting  with  health,  and  asked 
me  to  be  one  of  his  executors ;  mind,  one  :  I  consented 
on  a  distinct  understanding  I  was  never  to  be  called  upon 
to  act.     He  was  twenty  years   my  junior,  and  like  so 

1  "  Domestic,"  you  are  aware,  is  Latin  for"  tame."  Ex.,  "  Domestic  fowl," 
"  domestic  drama,"  "  story  of  domestic  interest,"  or"  clironicle  of  small  beer." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  107 

much  mahogany  ;  it  was  just  a  form  :  I  did  it  to  soothe 
a  man,  who  called  himself  my  friend,  and  set  his  mind 
at  rest." 

"  But  uncle,  dear,  I  don't  understand  even  now :  can  it 
be  possible  that  a  friend  has  abused  your  good-nature  ?  " 

"  A  little,"  with  an  angry  sneer. 

"  Has  he  betrayed  your  confidence  ?  " 

"  Hasn't  he  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear  !     What  has  he  done  ?  " 

"  Died,  that  is  all,"  snarled  the  victim. 

"  Oh,  uncle  !     Poor  man  !  " 

"Poor  man!  no  doubt.  But  how  about  poor  me? 
why,  it  turns  out  I  am  sole  executor." 

"  But,  dear  vmcle,  how  could  the  poor  soul  help  dying  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  candid,  Lucy,"  said  Mr.  Fountain  severely. 
"  Did  ever  I  say  he  could  help  dying  ?  But  he  could  help 
coming  here  under  false  colors,  a  mahogany  face,  and 
trapping  his  friend." 

"■  Uncle,  what  is  the  use  your  trying  to  play  the  mis- 
anthrope with  me,  who  know  how  good  you  are  in  spite 
of  your  pretences  to  the  contrary  ?  To  hide  your  emo- 
tion from  your  poor  niece,  you  go  into  a  feigned  fury, 
and  all  the  time  you  know  how  sorry  you  are  your  poor 
friend  is  gone." 

.  "Of  course  I  am.  He  has  secured  one  mourner.  He 
might  have  died  to  all  eternity  if  he  hadn't  nailed  me 
first.  See  how  selfish  men  are,  and  bad-hearted  into 
the  bargain :  I  believe  that  young  fellow  had  been  to  a 
doctor,  and  found  out  he  was  booked  in  spite  of  his 
mahogany  cheeks.  So  then  he  rides  out  here  and 
wheedles  an  unguarded  friend;  I'm  wired  —  I'm  trapped 
—  I'm  snared." 

Lucy  set  herself  to  soothe  her  injured  relative  —  you 
must  say  to  yourself,  "  c'est  un  jyetit  malheurJ' 

"  Tell  myself  sl  falsehood  ?  What  shall  I  gain  by  that  ? 


108  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Let  me  tell  you  it  is  these  minor  troubles  tliat  send  a 
man  to  Bedlam :  one  breeds  another  till  they  swarm  and 
buzz  you  distracted  and  sting  you  dead.  '  Petit  malheur  ! ' 
it  is  a  greater  one  than  you  have  ever  encountered  since 
you  have  been  under  my  wing." 

''  It  is,  dear,  it  is ;  but  I  hope  to  encounter  much 
greater  ones  before  I  am  your  age." 

"  The  deuce  you  do ! " 

''  Or  else  I  shall  die  without  ever  having  lived,  a  vege- 
table, not  a  human  being." 

"  Bombast !  a  '■  flower '  your  lovers  will  call  you." 

''  And  men  of  sense  a  '  weed.'  But  don't  let  us  discuss 
me.  What  I  wish  to  know  is  the  nature  of  your  annoy- 
ance, dear."  He  explained  to  her  with  a  groan  that  he 
should  have  to  wind  up  all  the  affairs  of  an  estate  of 
eight  thousand  pounds  a  year,  pay  the  annual  and  other 
incumbrances,  etc.,  etc. 

''Well,  but,  dear,  you  will  be  quite  at  home  in  this, 
you  have  such  a  turn  for  business." 

"  For  my  own,"  shrieked  the  old  bachelor  angrily ; 
"  not  for  other  people's.  Why,  Lucy,  there  will  be  half 
a  dozen  separate  accounts,  all  of  four  figures.  It  is  not 
as  if  executors  were  paid.  And  why  are  they  not  paid  ? 
There  ought  to  be  a  law  compelling  the  estates  they 
administer  to  pay  them,  and  handsomely.  It  never 
occurred  to  me  before,  but  now  I  see  the  monstrous  in- 
iquity of  amateur  executors,  amateur  trustees,  amateur 
guardians.  Tliey  take  business  out  of  the  hands  of  those 
who  live  by  business :  I  sincerely  regret  my  share  in 
this  injustice.  If  a  snob  works,  he  always  expects  to  be 
paid.  How  much  more  a  gentleman.  He  ought  to  be 
paid  double;  once  for  the  work,  once  for  giving  up  his 
natural  ease.  Here  am  I  guardian  gratis  to  a  cub  of  six- 
teen, the  worst  age,  done  school,  and  not  begun  Oxford 
and  governesses." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME  LONG.  109 

"  Tutors,  you  mean." 

"  Do  I  ?  is  it  the  tutors  the  whelps  fall  in  love  with, 
little  goose  ?  Stop :  I'll  describe  my  '  interesting  charge ' 
as  the  books  call  it.  He  has  hair  you  could  not  tell 
from  tow.  He  has  no  eyebroAvs  —  a  little  unfledged  slip- 
pery horror.  He  used  to  come  in  to  dessert,  and  turn  all 
our  stomachs,  except  his  silly  father's." 

"  Poor  orphan  !  " 

"  When  you  speak  to  him  he  never  answers.  Blushes 
instead." 

"  Poor  child  !  " 

"  He  has  read  of  eloquent  blushes,  and  thinks  there  is 
no  need  to  reply  in  words  —  blushing  must  be  such  an 
interesting  and  effective  substitute." 

"  Poor  boy ;  he  wants  a  little  judicious  kindness.  We 
will  have  him  here." 

"  Here ! "  cried  the  old  gentleman  with  horror.  "  What  ? 
make  Font  Abbey  a  kennel !  No,  Lucy,  this  house  is 
sacred  :  no  nuisances  admitted  here.  Here,  on  this  single 
spot  of  earth,  reigns  comfort,  and  shall  reign  unruffled 
while  I  live.  This  is  the  temple  of  peace.  If  I  must  be 
worried  I  must,  but  not  beneath  this  hallowed  roof." 

This  eloquence,  delivered  as  it  was  with  a  sudden 
solemnity,  told  upon  the  mind. 

"  Dear  Font  Abbey,"  murmured  Lucy,  half  closing  her 
eyes,  "  how  well  you  describe  it ;  cosiest  of  the  cosey ; 
the  walls  seem  padded,  the  carpets  velvet,  and  the  whole 
structure  care-proof :  all  is  quiet  gayety  and  sweet  punc- 
tuality. Here  comfort  and  good  humor  move  by  clock- 
work —  that  is  Font  Abbey.  Yet  you  are  right  —  if  you 
were  to  be  seen  in  it  no  more,  it  would  lose  the  life  of 
its  charm,  dear  Uncle  Fountain." 

"Thank  you,  my  dear,  —  thank  you.  I  do  like  to  see 
my  friends  about  me  comfortable ;  and,  above  all,  to  be 
comfortable  myself :  the  place  is  well  enough,  and  I  am 


110  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

bitterly  sorry  I  must  leave  it,  and  sorry  to  leave  you,  my 
dear." 

"  Leave  us  ?  not  immediately  ?  " 

"  This  very  day.     Why,  the  funeral  is  to  be  this  week 

—  a  grand  funeral  —  and  I  have  to  order  it  all.  Then 
there  are  relatives  to  be  invited  —  thirty  letters  —  others 
to  be  asked  to  the  reading  of  the  will.  It  will  be  one 
hurry-scurry  till  we  get  the  house  clear  of  the  corpse  and 
the  vultures :  then  at  it  I  must  go  head  foremost  into 
fathomless  addition  —  subtraction  —  multiplication  and 
vexation.     '  Oh,  now  forever  farewell  something  or  other 

—  farewell  content  I '  You  talk  of  misanthropy.  I  shall 
end  there.  —  Lucy  !  " 

"  Yes,  dear  uncle." 

"  I  never  —  do  —  a  good-natured  thing  —  but  —  I  — 
bitterly  —  repent  it.  By  Jupiter,  the  coffee  is  cold : 
the  first  time  that  has  befallen  me  since  I  turned  off 
seven  servants  that  battled  that  point  of  comfort  with 
me." 

Lucy  suggested  that  the  coffee  might  have  cooled  a 
little  while  he  was  being  so  kind  as  to  answer  her  ques- 
tion at  unusual  length.  Then  she  came  round  to  him 
bringing  a  fresh  supply  of  fragrant  slow  poison,  and  sat 
beside  him  and  soothed  him,  till  his  ire  went  down,  and 
came  the  calm  depression  of  a  man,  who,  accustomed  for 
many  years  to  do  just  what  he  liked,  found  himself  sud- 
denly obliged  to  do  something  he  did  not  like,  a  thing 
out  of  the  groove  of  his  habits  too. 

Sure  enough  he  left  Font  Abbey  the  same  day  with  a 
promise,  exacted  by  Lucy,  that  he  should  make  her  the 
partner  of  all  his  vexations  by  writing  to  her  every 
day. 

"  And,  Lucy,"  said  the  old  Parthian,  as  he  stepped  into 
his  travelling-carriage,  ''my  friend  Talboys  will  miss  me; 
pray  be  kind  to  him  while  I  am  away.     He  is  a  particu- 


LOYE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  Ill 

lar  friend  of  mine.  I  may  be  wrong ;  but  I  do  like  men 
of  known  origin;  of  old  family." 

"And  you  are  right.  I  will  be  kind  to  him  for  your 
sake,  dear." 

A  slight  cold  confined  Lucy  to  the  house  for  three  or 
four  days  after  her  uncle's  departure  (by  the  by,  I  think 
this  must  have  been  the  reason  of  David's  ill  success  in 
his  endeavors  to  get  an  interview  with  her  out  of  doors). 

Thus  circumstanced,  ladies  rummage. 

Lucy  found  in  a  garret  a  chest  containing  a  quantity 
of  papers  and  parchments  and  the  beautifullest  dust. 
No  such  dust  is  made  in  these  degenerate  days.  Some 
of  these  MSS.  bore  recent  dates,  and  were  easily  legible, 
though  not  so  easily  intelligible,  being  written  as  Grati- 
ano  spake.  ^  The  writers  had  omitted  to  put  the  idea'd 
words  into  red  ink  :  so  they  had  to  be  picked  out  with 
infinite  difficulty  from  the  multitude  of  unidea'd  ones. 

Other  of  the  MSS.  more  ancient  wore  a  double  veil. 
They  hid  their  sense  in  verbiage,  and  also  in  narrow 
Germanified  letters  further  deformed  by  contractions 
and  ornamental  flourishes,  whose  joint  effect  made  a 
word  look  like  a  black  daddy-long-legs,  all  sprawling 
fantastic  limbs  and  the  body  a  dot. 

The  perusal  of  these  pieces  was  slow  and  painful ;  it 
was  like  walking  or  slipping  about  among  broken  ruins 
overgrown  Avith  nettles.  But  then  Uncle  Fountain  was 
so  anxious  to  hook  on  to  the  Flunkeys  —  oh,  del !  what 
am  I  saying  ?  the  Funteyns  ;  and  his  direct  genealogical 
evidence  had  so  completely  broken  down.  She  said  to 
herself,  "  Oh,  dear,  if  I  could  find  something  among  these 
old  writings  and  show  it  him  on  his  return."  She  had 
them  all  dusted  and  brought  down  and  a  table-cloth  laid 
on  a  long  table  in  the  drawing-room,  and  spelled  them 

'  "Gratiano  speaks  an  infinite  deal  of  nothing  .  .  .  his  reasons  are  as  three 
grains  of  wheat  in  two  bushels  of  chaff." 


112  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

with  a  good-humored  patience  that  belonged  partly  to 
her  character,  j^artly  to  her  sex.  A  female  who  under- 
takes this  sort  of  work  does  not  skip  as  we  should ;  the 
habit  of  needlework  in  all  its  branches  reconciles  that 
portion  of  mankind  to  invisible  progress  in  other  mat- 
ters. 

Besides  this  they  are  naturally  careful,  and,  above  all, 
born  to  endure,  they  carry  patience  into  nearly  all  they 
do.i 

Lucy  made  her  way  manfully  through  all  the  well- 
written  circumlocution,  and  in  a  very  short  time  consider- 
ing: but  the  antique  Bunoloyiu  tried  her  eyes  too  much 
at  night,  so  she  gave  nearly  her  whole  day  to  it,  for  she 
was  anxious  to  finish  all  before  her  uncle's  return. 
It  was  a  curious  i:)icture ;  Venus  immersed  in  musty 
records. 

One  day  she  had  studied  and  spelled  four  mortal  hours, 
when  a  visitor  was  suddenly  announced  —  Miss  Dodd ; 
that  young  lady  came  briskly  in  at  the  heels  of  the  ser- 
vant and  caught  Lucy  at  her  work.  After  the  first 
greeting  her  eyes  rested  with  such  undisguised  curiosity 
on  the  "  mouldy  records,"  that  Lucy  told  her  in  general 
terms  what  she  was  trying  to  do  for  her  uncle.  "  La," 
said  Eve,  "  you  will  ruin  your  eye-sight ;  why  not  send 
them  over  to  us ;  I  will  make  David  read  them." 

"  And  his  eye-sight  ?  " 

"  Oh,  bless  you,  he  has  a  knack  of  reading  old  writing. 
He  has  made  a  study  of  it." 

"If  I  thought  I  was  not  presuming  too  far  on  Mr. 
Dodd's  good-nature,  I  would  send  one  or  two  of  them." 

"  Do  :  and  I  will  make  him  draw  up  a  paper  of  the 
contents  —  I  have  seen  him  at  this  sort  of  work  before 

1  At  about  the  third  rehearsal  of  a  new  phiy,  our  actresses  bring  the 
author's  words  in  their  lieads,  our  actors  are  still  all  abroad,  and  at  the  first 
performance  the  breaks-down  are  sure  to  be  amongst  the  males;  the  female 
jumeuta  carry  their  burden  (be  it  of  pig-lead)  safe  from  wing  to  wing. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  113 

now.     But  there,  la,  I  suppose  you  know  it  is  all  van- 

ity." 

"  I  do  it  to  please  my  poor  uncle." 

"  And  very  good  you  are  :  but  what  the  better  will  the 
poor  old  gentleman  be  ?  we  are  here  to  act  our  own 
part  well :  we  can't  ride  up  to  heaven  on  our  great- 
grandfather." 

These  maxims  were  somewhat  coldly  received.  So 
Eve  shifted  her  ground.  "  After  all,  I  don't  know  why 
I  should  be  the  one  to  say  that ;  for  my  own  name  is 
older  than  your  uncle's,  a  pretty  deal." 

Lucy  looked  puzzled  ;  then  suddenly  fancying  she  had 
caught  Eve's  meaning,  she  said,  "  That  is  true.  Hail, 
mother  of  mankind  ! "  and  bowed  her  head  with  grace- 
ful reverence. 

Eve  stared  and  colored,  not  knowing  what  on  earth 
her  companion  meant.  I  am  afraid  it  must  be  owned 
that  Eve  steadily  eschewed  books,  and  always  had. 
What  little  book-learning  she  had,  came  to  her  filtered 
through  David,  and  by  this  channel  she  accepted  it 
willingly,  even  sought  it  at  odd  times,  when  there  was 
no  bread,  pudding,  dress,  theology,  scandal,  or  fun  going 
on.  She  turned  it  off  by  a  sudden  inquiry  where  Mr. 
Fountain  was;  "they  told  me  in  the  village  he  was 
away."  Now  several  circu.mstances  combined  to  make 
Lucy  more  communicative  than  usual.  First  she  had 
been  studying  hard ;  and  after  long  study,  when  a  lively 
person  comes  to  us,  it  is  a  great  incitement  to  talk. 
Pitiful  by  nature,  I  spare  you  the  "  bent  bow."  Secondly, 
she  was  a  little  anxious  lest  her  uncle's  sudden  neglect 
should  have  mortified  Miss  Dodd,  and  a  neutral  topic 
handled  at  length  tends  to  replace  friendly  feeling  with- 
out direct  and  unpleasant  explanations.  She  therefore 
answered  every  question  in  full ;  told  her  that  her  uncle 
had  lost  a  dear  friend,  that  he  was  executor  and  guardian 
8 


114  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

to  the  poor  boy,  now  entirel}^  an  orphan.  Her  imcle, 
with  his  usual  zeal  on  behalf  of  his  friends,  had  gone  off 
at  once,  and  doubtless  Avould  not  return  till  he  had  ful- 
filled in  every  respect  the  wishes  of  the  deceased. 

To  this  general  sketch  she  added  many  details,  sup- 
pressing the  misanthropy  Mr.  Fountain  had  exhibited  or 
affected  at  the  first  receipt  of  the  intelligence. 

In  short,  angelic  gossip.  Earthly  gossip  always  back- 
bites, you  know.  Eve  missed  something  somehow,  no 
doubt  the  human  or  backbiting  element  —  still  it  was 
gossip,  sacred  gossip,  far  dearer  than  Shakespeare  to  the 
female  heart,  and  Eve's  eyes  glowed  with  pleasure,  and 
her  tongue  plied  eager  questions. 

With  all  this,  such  instinctive  artists  are  these  delicate 
creatures,  both  these  ladies  were  secretly  in  ambush, 
Lucy  to  learn  whether  Eve  and  David  were  hurt  or  sur- 
prised at  not  being  invited  of  late,  and  why  she  and  he 
had  not  called  since.  Eve  to  find  out  what  was  the  cause 
David  and  she  had  been  so  suddenly  dropped ;  was  it 
Lucy's  doing,  or  whose  ? 

Each  lady  being  bent  on  receiving,  not  on  making 
revelations,  nothing  transpired  on  either  side.  Seeing 
this.  Eve  became  impatient,  and  made  a  bold  move. 

"  Miss  Fountain,"  said  she,  "  you  are  all  alone  :  I  wish 
you  would  come  over  to  us  this  evening  and  have  tea." 

Lucy  did  not  immediately  reply.  Eve  saw  her  hesi- 
tation, "  It  is  but  a  poor  place,"  said  she,  "  to  ask 
you  to." 

"  I  will  come,"  said  the  lady,  directly.  "  I  will  come 
with  great  pleasure." 

"  Will  seven  be  too  early  for  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no.  I  don't  dine  now  my  uncle  is  away.  I  call 
luncheon  dinner." 

"  Perhaps  six,  then  ?  " 

"Pray  let  me   come   at   your  usual   hour.     Why  de- 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  115 

range  your  family  for  one  person  ?  "  Six  o'clock  Avas 
settled. 

"  I  must  take  some  of  this  rubbish  with  me,"  said  Eve ; 
"  come  along,  my  dears,"  and  with  an  ample  and  mock 
enthusiastic  gesture  she  caught  up  an  armful  of  manu- 
scripts. 

"  The  servant  shall  take  them  over  for  you." 

"  Oh,  bother  the  servant,  I  am  my  own  servant  —  if 
you  will  lend  me  a  pin  or  two." 

Lucy  drew  six  pins  out  from  different  parts  of  her 
dress.  Eve  noticed  this,  but  said  nothing.  She  pinned 
up  her  apron  so  as  to  make  an  enormous  pocket,  and 
went  gayly  ofE  with  the  "  spoils  of  time." 


116  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  Is  that  what  you  call  being  calm,  David  ?  Let  me 
alone  —  don't  slobber  me.  I  am  sure  I  wish  she  had 
said  'No.'  If  I  had  thought  she  would  come,  I  would 
never  have  asked  her." 

"  You  would,  Eve,  you  Avould  for  love  of  me." 

"Who  knows  ?  perhaps  I  might.  I  am  more  indulgent 
than  kind." 

"  Eve,  do  tell  me  all.  Is  she  Avell  ?  does  she  conie  of 
her  own  good  will  ?     Dear  Eve  ! " 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you :  first  we  had  a  bit  of  a  talk  for  a 
blind,  like ;  and  her  uncle  is  aAvay  :  so  then  I  asked  her 
plump  to  come  to  tea.  Well,  David,  first  she  looked 
'  Xo '  —  only  for  a  single  moment  though,  she  soon 
altered  her  mind,  and  so  then  the  moment  it  was  to  be 
'Yes'  she  cleared  up,  and  you  would  have  thought  she 
had  been  asked  to  the  king's  banquet.  Ah,  David  my 
lad,  you  have  fallen  into  good  hands  —  you  have  launched 
your  heart  on  a  deeper  ocean  than  ever  your  ship 
sailed  on." 

David  took  no  notice.  He  was  in  a  state  of  exaltation 
for  one  thing,  and,  besides.  Eve's  simile  was  sent  to  the 
wrong  address  ;  we  terrestrials  fear  water  in  proportion 
to  its  depth,  but  these  mariners  dread  their  native  ele- 
ment only  when  it  is  shallow. 

David  now  kept  asking  in  an  excited  way  what  could 
they  do  for  her  ?  AVhat  could  they  get  to  do  her  honor  ? 
Wouldn't  she  miss  the  luxuries  of  her  line  place  ? 

"  Now  you  be  quiet,  David :  we  need  not  put  ourselves 
about,  for  she  will  be  the  easiest  girl  to  jjlease  you  have 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  117 

ever  seen  here ;  or,  if  she  isn't,  she'll  act  it  so  that  you'll 
be  none  the  wiser.  However,  you  can  go  and  buy  some 
flowers  for  me." 

''That  I  will,  Ave  have  none  good  enough  for  her 
here." 

"  And,  David,  tea  under  the  catalpa  as  we  always  do 
on  fine  nights." 

"  You  don't  mean  that." 

*''  Ah,  but  I  do ;  these  fine  ladies  are  all  for  novelties : 
now  I'm  much  mistaken  if  this  one  has  ever  had  her  tea 
out  of  doors  in  all  her  born  days.  What !  do  you  think 
our  little  stuffy  room  would  be  any  treat  to  her,  after 
the  drawing-room  at  Font  Abbey  ?  Come,  you  be  off 
till  half-past  five :  you'll  fidget  yourself  and  fidget  me 
else." 

David  recognized  her  superiority,  obeyed  and  vanished. 

Eve,  having  got  rid  of  him,  showed  none  of  the  in- 
souciance she  had  recommended:  she  darted  into  the 
kitchen,  bared  her  arms,  and  made  Avheaten  cakes  with 
unequalled  rapidity,  the  servant  looking  on  with  demure 
admiration  all  the  Avhile.  These  put  into  the  oven,  she 
got  her  keys  and  put  out  the  silver  tea-pot,  cream-jug,  and 
sugar-basin,  things  not  used  every  day,  I  can  tell  you : 
item,  the  best  old  china  tea-service ;  item,  some  rare  tea 
of  which  David  had  brought  home  a  small  quantity  from 
China.  At  six  o'clock.  Miss  Fountain  came ;  a  footman 
marched  twenty  yards  behind  her  —  she  dismissed  him 
at  the  door,  and  Eve  invited  her  at  once  into  the  garden. 
There  David  joined  them ;  his  heart  beating  violently. 
She  put  out  her  hand,  kindly  and  calmly,  and  shook 
hands  Avith  him  in  the  most  unembarrassed  way  imagin- 
able. At  the  touch  of  her  soft  hand  CA^ery  fibre  in  him 
thrilled,  and  the  color  rushed  into  his  face.  At  this  a 
faint  blush  tinged  her  OAvn,  but  no  more  than  the  warm 
welcome  she  Avas  receiving  might  account  for. 


118  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

They  seated  lier  in  a  comfortable  chair  under  the 
catalpa.  Presently  out  came  a  nice  clean  maid,  her 
white  neck  half  hidden,  half  revealed,  by  plain  unfigured 
muslin  worn  where  the  frock  ended.  She  put  the  tea- 
things  on  the  table,  and  courtesied  to  Lucy,  who  returned 
her  salute  by  a  benignant  smile ;  out  came  another 
stouter  one  with  the  kettle,  hung  it  from  a  hooj)  between 
two  stout  sticks,  and  lighted  a  fire  she  had  laid  under- 
neath, retiring  with  a  parting  look  at  the  kettle  as  soon 
as  it  hissed.  Then  returned  maid  one,  with  bread  and 
wheaten  cakes  and  fruit,  butter  nice  and  hard  from  the 
cellar,  and  yellow  cream,  and  went  off  smiling. 

A  gentle  zeal  seemed  to  animate  these  domestics,  as  if 
they  also  in  relative  proportions  gave  the  fete,  or  at 
least  contributed  good  will;  Lucy's  quick  eye  caught 
this;  it  was  new  to  her. 

The  tea  was  soon  made,  and  its  Oriental  fragrance 
mingled  with  the  other  odors  that  filled  the  balmy  air. 
Gay  golden  broken  lights  flickered  in  patches  on  the 
table,  the  china  cups,  the  ladies'  dresses,  and  the  grass, 
all  but  in  one  place  where  the  cool  deep  shadow  lay  un- 
disturbed around  the  foot  of  the  tree-stem  ;  looking  up 
to  see  whence  the  flickering  gold  came  that  sprinkled 
her  white  hand,  Lucy  saw  one  of  the  loveliest  and  com- 
monest things  in  nature :  the  sky  was  blue  —  the  sun 
fiery  —  the  air  potable  gold  outside  the  tree,  so  that,  as 
she  looked  up,  the  mellow  green  leaves  of  the  catalpa, 
coming  between  her  and  the  bright  sky  and  glowing  air, 
shone  like  transparent  gold  —  staircase  upon  staircase  of 
great  exotic  translucent  leaves,  with  specks  of  lovely 
blue  sky  that  seemed  to  come  down  and  perch  among  the 
top  branches :  charming  as  these  sights  were,  contrast 
doubled  their  beauties :  for  all  these  dimples  of  bright 
blue  and  flakes  of  translucent  gold  were  eyed  from  the 
cool  and  from  the  deep  shade :  the  light,  it  is  true,  came 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      119 

down  and  danced  on  the  turf  here  and  there,  but  it  left 
its  heat  behind,  through  running  the  gauntlet  of  the 
myriad  leaves.  Over  Lucy's  head,  hung  by  a  silk  line 
from  one  of  the  branches  a  huge  globe  of  humble  but 
fragrant  flowers  :  they  were  in  point  of  fact  fastened 
with  marvellous  skill  all  round  a  damp  sponge  :  but  slie 
did  not  know  that.  Thus  these  simple  hosts  honored 
their  lovely  guest.  And  while  these  sights  and  smells 
stole  into  her  deep  eyes  and  her  delicate  nostrils,  "  Fiddle, 
David,"  said  Eve,  loftily  —  and  straightAvay  a  simple 
mellow  tune  rang  sweetly  on  the  cheerful  chords ;  a 
rustic,  dulcet,  and  immortal  ditty,  in  tune  with  summer, 
and  afternoon,  with  gold-checkered  grass  and  leaves  that 
slumbered  yet  vibrated  in  the  gloAving  air. 

A  bright  dreamy  hour ;  the  soul  and  senses  floated 
gently  in  color,  fragrance,  melody,  and  great  calm.  "Each 
sound  seemed  but  an  echo  of  tranquillity." 

Lucy  looked  up  and  absorbed  the  scene,  then  closed 
her  eyes  and  listened:  and  presently  her  lips  parted 
gradually  in  so  ravishing  a  smile,  her  eyes  remaining 
closed,  that  even  Eve,  who  saw  her  in  her  true  light,  a 
terrible  girl  Qome  there  to  burn  and  destroy  David, 
remaining  cool  as  a  cucumber,  could  hardly  forbear  seiz- 
ing her  and  mumbling  her. 

In  certain  companies  you  shall  see  a  boisterous  cor- 
diality, which  at  bottom  is  as  hollow  as  diplomacy.  But 
there  is  a  modest  geniality  which  is  to  society  what  the 
bloom  is  to  the  plum. 

And  this  charm  Lucy  found  in  her  hosts  of  the  catalpa. 
For  this  very  reason  that  they  were  her  hosts,  their  man- 
ner to  her  changed  a  little,  and  becomingly ;  they  made 
no  secret  that  it  was  a  downright  pleasure  to  them  to 
have  her  there.  They  petted  her,  and  showed  her  so 
much  simple  kindness,  that  what  with  the  scene,  the 
music,  and  her  companions'  goodness,  the  coy  bud  opened, 


120  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

—  timidly  at  first  —  but  in  a  way  it  never  had  expanded 
at  Font  Abbey. 

She  even  developed  a  feeble  sense  of  fun,  followed 
suit  demurely  when  Eve  came  out  sprightly,  laughed  like 
a  brook  gurgling  to  Eve's  peal  of  bells ;  and  lo  and 
behold,  when  the  two  girls  got  together,  and  faced  the 
man,  strong  in  numbers,  a  favorite  trick,  backed  her  ally 
as  cowards  back  the  brave,  and  set  her  on  to  sauce  David. 
They  cast  doubts  upon  his  skill  in  navigation.  They 
perplexed  him  with  treacherous  questions  in  geography 
put  with  an  innocent  affectation  of  a  humble  desire  for 
information.  In  short,  they  played  upon  him  lightly  as 
they  touch  the  piano.  And  Eve  carolled  a  song,  and 
David  accompanied  her  on  the  fiddle  ;  and  at  the  third 
verse  Lucy  chimed  in  spontaneously  with  a  second,  and 
the  next  verse  David  struck  in  with  a  bass,  and  the  tepid 
air  rang  with  harmony,  and  poor  David  thrilled  with 
happiness.  His  heart  felt  his  voice  mingle  and  blend 
with  hers,  and  even  this  contact  was  delicious  to  his 
imagination.  And  they  were  happy.  But  all  must  end ; 
the  shades  of  evening  came  doAvn,  and  the  pleasant  little 
party  broke  up,  and  as  John  had  not  come,  David  asked 
leave  to  escort  her  home.  Oh,  no  —  she  could  not  think 
of  giving  him  that  trouble  —  so  saying  she  went  home 
with  him.  When  they  were  alone  his  deep  love  made 
him  timid  and  confused.  He  walked  by  her  side,  and 
did  not  speak  to  her.  She  waited  with  some  surprise  at 
his  silence,  and  then  as  he  was  shy  she  talked  to  him, 
uttered  many  airy  nothings,  and  then  jiut  questions  to 
him.     "  Did  he  always  drink  tea  out  of  doors  ?  " 

"  On  fine  nights  in  summer.  Eve  settled  all  such 
matters." 

"Have  you  not  a  voice  ?  " 

"I  have  a  voice,  but  no  vote.     She  is  skipper  ashore." 
-  "  Oh,  is  she  ?     Who  taught  her  how  delicious  it  is  to 
drink  tea  out  of  doors  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  121 

David  did  not  know,  fancied  it  was  her  own  idea. 
"  Did  you  really  like  it,  Miss  Fountain  ?  " 

"  Like  it,  Mr.  Dodd ;  it  was  elysiuiu.  I  never  passed 
a  sweeter  evening  in  my  life." 

David  colored  all  over.     ''  I  wish  I  could  believe  that." 

"  Was  it  the  tulip-tree,  or  the  violin,  or  was  it  your 
conversation,  Mr.  Dodd,  I  wonder  ?  "  asked  she  demurely, 
looking  mock  innocent  in  his  face. 

"  It  was  your  goodness  to  be  so  easily  pleased,"  said 
Dodd,  with  a  gush  that  made  her  color  —  she  smiled, 
however. 

"  Well,  that  is  one  way  of  lookin£  at  things,"  said  she. 
"  Entre  nous,  I  think  JNIiss  Dodd  was  the  enchantress." 

"  Eve  is  capital  company,  for  that  matter." 

"  Indeed  she  is ;  you  must  be  very  happy  together. 
Your  mutual  affection  is  very  charming,  Mr.  Dodd ;  but 
sometimes  it  almost  makes  me  sad :  forgive  me  !  I  have 
no  brother." 

"  You  will  never  want  one  to  love  you,  a  thousand 
times  better  than  a  brother  can  love." 

"  Oh,  shan't  I  ? "  said  the  lady,  and  opened  her 
eyes. 

"No;  and  there  is  more  than  one  that  worships  the 
ground  you  tread  on  at  this  moment  —  but  you  know 
that." 

"  Oh,  do  I  ?  "  she  opened  her  eyes  still  wider. 

David  longed  to  tell  her  how  he  loved  her;  but  he 
dared  not ;  he  looked  wistfully  at  her  face  —  it  was  quite 
calm,  and  had  suddenly  become  a  little  reserved.  He 
felt  he  was  on  new  and  dangerous  ground;  he  sighed 
and  was  silent.  He  turned  away  his  face.  When  this 
involuntary  sigh  broke  from  him,  she  turned  her  head 
a  little  and  looked  at  him.  He  felt  her  eye  dwell  on 
him,  and  his  cheeks  burned  under  it. 

The  next  moment  they  were  at  Font  Hill,  and  Lucy 


122      LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

seemed  to  David  to  hesitate  whether  to  give  him  her 
hand  at  parting  or  not. 

She  did  give  him  her  hand,  though  not  so  freely, 
David  thought,  as  she  had  done  on  his  own  little  lawn 
three  hours  before ;  and  this  dashed  his  spirits.  It 
seemed  to  him  a  s-tep  lost,  and  he  had  hoped  to  gain  a 
step  somehow  by  walking  home  with  her.  He  felt  like 
one  who  has  undertaken  to  catch  some  skittish  timorous 
thing  that,  if  you  stand  still,  will  come  within  a  certain 
small  but  safe  distance,  but  you  must  not  move  a  step 
towards  it,  or,  whirr,  away  it  is.  He  went  slowly  home 
—  his  heart  warm  and  cold  by  turns :  warm  when  he 
remembered  the  sweet  hours  he  had  just  spent,  and  her 
sweet  looks,  and  heavenly  tones,  every  one  of  which  he 
saw  and  heard  again ;  cold  when  he  thought  of  the  social 
distance  that  separated  them  and  the  hundred  chances  to 
one  against  his  love.  Then  he  said  to  himself,  "  Time 
was  I  thought  I  could  never  bring  a  yard  down  from  the 
fore-top  to  the  deck,  but  I  mastered  that.  Time  was  I 
thought  I  could  never  work  out  a  logarithm  without  a 
formula,  but  I  mastered  that.  Time  was  the  fiddle  beat 
nie  so,  I  was  ready  to  cry  over  it,  but  at  last  I  learned  to 
make  it  sing,  and  now  I  can  make  her  smile  with  it  (God 
bless  her),  instead  of  stopping  her  ears.  I  can  hardly 
mind  the  thing  that  didn't  beat  me  dead  for  a  long  while, 
but  I  persevered  and  got  the  upper  hand.  Ay,  but  this 
is  higher  and  harder  than  them  all,  a  hundred  times 
harder  and  higher. 

"I'll  hold  2ny  course,  let  the  wind  blow  high  or  low  — 
and  if  I  can't  overhaul  the  wish  of  my  heart,  Avell,  I'll 
carry  her  flag  to  the  last.  I'll  die  a  bachelor  for  her 
sake,  as  sure  as  you  are  the  moon,  my  lass,  and  you  the 
pole-star,  and  from  this  hour  I'll  never  look  at  you,  but 
I'll  make  believe  it  is  her  I  am  looking  up  at ;  for  she 
is  as  high  above  me,  and  as  bright,  as  you  are ;  God  bless 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   jSIE   LONG.  123 

her !  and  to  think  I  never  even  said  good-night  to  her. 
I  stood  there  like  a  mummy."  And  David  reproached 
himself  for  his  unkindness. 

Lucy,  on  entering  the  drawing-room,  was  surprised  to 
find  it  blazing  with  candles  —  but  she  was  more  surprised 
at  what  she  saw  seated  calmly  in  an  arm-chair  —  Mrs. 
Bazalgette.  Lucy  stood  transfixed,  the  audacious  intruder 
laughed  at  her  astonishment ;  the  next  moment  they 
intertwined  and  fell  to  kissing  one  another  with  tender 
violence. 

"  Well,  love,  the  fact  is  I  was  passing  here  on  my  way 
home  from  Devonshire,  and  I  wanted  particvilarly  to 
speak  to  you,  so  I  thought  I  Avould  venture  just  to  pop 
in  for  a  passing  call,  and  lo  —  I  find  the  old  ogre  is 
absent  and  not  expected  back  for  ever  so  long,  so  I  have 
installed  myself  at  his  Font  Abbey,  partly  out  of  love 
for  you,  dear,  partly,  I  confess  it,  out  of  hate  to  him. 
You  will  write  and  tell  me  his  face  when  he  comes  home 
and  hears  I  have  been  living  and  enjoying  myself  in  his 
den.  I  ordered  my  imperial  into  his  bedroom.  I  took 
for  granted  that  would  be  the  only  comfortable  one  in 
his  house." 

''Aunt  Bazalgette,"  cried  Lucy,  turning  pale.  "Oh, 
aunt,  what  will  become  of  us  ! " 

"  Don't  be  frightened :  the  gray -haired  monster  that 
dyes  his  whiskers,  and  gets  him  up  to  look  only  forty, 
interposed  and  forbade  the  consecration." 

"  I  am  glad  of  it :  you  shall  sleep  in  mine,  dear,  and 
I  will  go  into  the  east  room.     It  is  a  sweet  little  room." 

"  Is  it  —  then  why  not  put  me  there  ?  " 

Lucy  colored  a  little.  ''  I  think  mine  would  suit  you 
better,  dear,  because  it  is  larger  and  airier,  and  "  — 

"  I  see.  As  you  please :  you  know  I  never  make 
difficulties." 

"  And  how  long  have  you  been  here,  aunt  ?  " 


124  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"About  tliree  lioiirs." 

"  Three  hoiirs,  and  not  send  for  me !  I  was  only  in 
the  village.     Did  no  one  tell  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  but  you  know  it  is  not  my  way  to  make  a  fuss 
and  put  people  out.  How  could  I  tell  ?  You  might  be 
agreeably  employed,  and  I  was  sure  of  you  before  bed- 
time." 

Mighty  fine !  but  the  truth  is  she  came  to  Font  Abbey 
to  pry.  She  had  heard  a  vague  report  about  Lucy  and  a 
gentleman. 

She  was  very  glad  to  find  Lucy  was  out ;  it  gave  her 
an  opportunity.  She  sent  for  Lucy's  maid  to  help  her 
unpack  a  dress  or  two  —  thirteen.  This  girl  was  paid 
out  of  Lucy's  estate,  but  did  not  know  that.  Mrs.  Bazal- 
gette  handed  her  her  wages,  and  that  gives  an  influence. 
The  wily  matron  did  not  trust  to  that  alone.  In  unpack- 
ing she  gave  the  girl  a  dress  and  several  smaller  presents, 
and,  this  done,  slowly  and  cautiously  pumped  her.  Jane, 
to  fulfil  her  share  of  a  bargain,  which,  though  never  once 
alluded  to,  was  perfectly  understood  between  both  the 
parties,  told  her  all  she  knew  and  all  she  conjectured, 
told  her  in  particular  how  constantly  Mr.  Talboys  was 
in  the  house,  and  how  one  night  the  old  gentleman  had 
walked  part  of  the  way  home  with  him,  "which  Mr. 
Thomas  says  he  didn't  think  his  master  would  do  it  for 
the  king,  mum  ! "  and  had  come  in  all  a  flurry  and  sent 
up  for  miss,  and  swore  ^  awful  when  she  couldn't  come 
because  she  was  abed.  "  So  you  may  depend,  mum,  it  is 
so ;  leastways,  the  gentlemen  they  are  willing ;  we  talk 
it  over  mostly  every  day  in  the  servants'  hall,  mum,  and 
we  are  all  of  a  mind  so  fur ;  but  whether  it  will  come  to 
a  wedding,  that  we  haven't  a-settled  yet ;  it's  miss  beats 
us :  she  is  like  no  other  young  lady  ever  I  came  a-nigh. 

1  The  ladies  of  the  bed-chamber  will  embellish.  After  all,  it  is  their 
business. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  125 

A  man  or  a  woman,  it  is  all  the  same  to  lier :  a  kind  word 
for  everybody  and  pass  on.  But  I  do  really  think  she 
likes  her  own  side  of  the  house  a  trifle  the  best." 

"And  there  you  don't  agree  with  her,  Jane  ?" 

"Well,  mum, — being  as  we  are  alone,  —  now  is  it 
natural  ?  But  Mr.  Thomas,  he  says,  '  the  cold  ones  take 
the  first  offer  that  comes  when  there  is  money  ahind  it. 
It  isn't  us  they  wants,'  says  he,  —  I  told  him  I  should 
think  not  the  likes  of  him,  — '  but  our  house  and  land,' 
says  he,  'and  hopera  box  and  cetera.'  'But  I  don't 
think  that  of  our  one,'  says  I,  'bless  you,  she  is  too 
high-minded.'  But  what  I  think,  mum,  is,  she  wouldn't 
say  '  no '  to  her  uncle ;  her  mouth  don't  seem  made  for 
saying  no,  especially  to  him ;  and  he  is  bent  on  Talboys, 
mum,  you  take  my  word." 

To  return  to  the  drawing-room,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  after 
the  above  delicate  discussion  sat  there  in  ambush,  know- 
ing more  of  Lucy's  affairs  than  Lucy  knew.  Her  next 
point  Vv^as  to  learn  Lucy's  sentiments  and  to  find  Avhether 
she  was  deliberately  playing  false  and  breaking  her 
promise,  vide  p.  19. 

"  Well,  Lucy,  any  lovers  yet  ?  " 

"Xo,  aunt." 

"  Take  care,  Lucy,  a  little  bird  whispers  in  my  ear." 

"  Then  it  is  a  humming-bird,"  and  Lucy  pouted.  "  ISTow, 
aunt,  did  you  really  come  to  Font  Abbey  to  tease  me 
about  such  nonsense  as  —  as  —  gentlemen  ?  "  and  Lucy 
looked  hurt. 

"  Here's  an  actress  for  you,"  thought  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
but  she  calmly  dropped  the  subject,  and  never  recurred 
to  it  openly  all  the  evening,  but  lay  secretly  in  watch, 
and  put  many  subtle  but  seeming  innocent  questions  to 
her  niece  about  her  habits,  her  uncle's  guest,  whether 
her  uncle  kept  a  horse  for  her,  whether  he  bought  it 
for  her  ?  etc.,  etc. 


126  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

The  next  morning  Mrs.  Bazalgette  breakfasted  in  bed, 
during  which  process  she  rang  her  bell  seven  times.  Lucy 
received  at  the  breakfast-table  a  letter  from  her  uncle. 

My  dear  Xiece,  — The  funeral  was  yesterday,  and,  I  flat- 
ter myself,  well  performed  ;  there  wei'e  five  and  twenty 
carriages.  After  that  a  luncheon  in  the  right  style,  and  then 
to  the  reading  of  the  will.  And  here  I  shall  surprise  you,  but 
not  more  than  I  was  myself :  I  am  left  five  thousand  pomids 
consols.  My  worthy  friend,  wliose  loss  we  are  called  on  so 
suddenly  to  deplore,  accompanied  this  bequest  in  his  will  with 
many  friendly  expressions  of  esteem,  wliich  I  have  always 
studied  and  sliall  study  to  deserve.  He  bequeathed  to  me  also 
dui'ing  minority  tlie  care  of  his  boy,  tlie  heir  to  this  fine  prop- 
erty, which  far  exceeds  the  value  I  had  imagined.  There  is  a 
letter  attaclied  to  the  will ;  in  comiDliance  with  it  Arthur  is  to 
go  to  Cambridge,  but  not  until  he  has  been  well  jireijared. 
He  will  therefore  accomj^any  me  to  Font  Abbey  to-morrow, 
and  I  must  contrive  somehow  or  other  to  find  him  a  mathe- 
matical tutor  in  the  neighborhood.  There  is  a  handsome 
allowance  made  out  of  the  estate  for  his  board,  etc.,  etc. 

He  is  an  intei-esting  boy,  and  has  none  of  the  rudeness  and 
mischievousness  they  generally  have.  Blue  eyes,  soft,  silky, 
flaxen  hair,  and  as  modest  as  a  girl.  His  orphaned  state 
merits  kindness,  and  his  prospects  entitle  him  to  consideration. 
I  mention  this  because  I  fancy  Avhen  we  last  discussed  this 
matter  I  saw  a  little  disposition  on  your  part  to  be  satirical  at 
the  poor  boy's  expense.  I  am  sure,  however,  that  you  will 
restrain  this  feeling  at  my  request,  and  treat  him  like  a  younger 
brother  —  I  only  wish  he  was  three  or  four  years  older  —  you 
understand  me,  miss. 

To-morrow  afternoon  then  we  shall  be  at  Font  Abbey.  Let 
him  have  the  east  room,  and  tell  Brown  to  light  a  blazing  fire 
in  my  bedroom  and  warm  and  air  every  mortal  thing,  on  pain 
of  death. 

Your  affectionate  uncle, 

John  Fountain. 

On  reading  this  letter  Lucy  formed  an  innocent  sclieme. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  127 

It  had  long  been  matter  of  regret  to  her  that  Aunt 
Bazalgette  could  not  see  the  good  qualities  of  Uncle 
Fountain,  and  Uncle  Fountain  of  Aunt  Bazalgette.  "  It 
must  be  mere  prejudice,"  said  she,  "or  why  do  I  love 
them  both  ? "  She  had  often  wished  she  could  bring 
them  together  and  make  them  know  one  another  better ; 
they  would  find  out  one  another's  good  qualities  then, 
and  be  friends.  But  how  ?  As  Shakespeare  says,  "  Oxen 
and  wain  ropes  would  not  haul  them  together." 

At  last  chance  aided  her.  Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  at  Font 
Abbey,  actually.  Lucy  knew  that  if  she  announced  Mr. 
Fountain's  expected  return  the  B.  would  fly  off  that 
minute ;  so  she  suppressed  the  information,  and,  giving 
up  to  young  Arthur  as  she  had  to  Mrs.  B.,  moved  into  a 
still  smaller  room  than  the  east  room. 

And  now  lier  heart  quaked  a  little ;  "  but  after  all, 
Uncle  Fountain  is  a  gentleman,"  thought  she,  "  and  not 
capable  of  showing  hostility  to  her  under  his  own  roof. 
Here  she  is  safe,  though  nowhere  else ;  only  I  must  see 
him,  and  explain  to  him  before  he  sees  her."  With  this 
view  Lucy  declined  demurely  her  aunt's  proposal  for  a 
Avalk.  No,  she  must  be  excused ;  she  had  work  to  do  in 
the  drawing-room,  that  could  not  be  postponed. 

"Work!  that  alters  the  case;  let  me  see  it."  She 
took  for  granted  it  was  some  useful  work,  something 
that  could  be  worn  when  done.  "  What !  is  this  it  ? 
these  dirty  parchments  ?  Oh  !  I  see,  it  is  for  that  selfish 
old  man ;  who  but  he  would  set  a  lady  to  parchments  ?  " 

"  A  bad  guess  !  "  cried  Lucy,  joyously  ;  "  I  found  them 
myself,  and  set  myself  to  work  on  them." 

"  Don't  tell  me !  He  is  at  the  bottom  of  it.  If  it 
was  for  yourself  you  would  give  it  up  directly.  How 
amusing  for  me  to  see  you  work  at  that ! "  Lucy  rose 
and  brought  her  the  new  novel.  Mrs.  Bazalgette  took  it 
and  sat  down  to  it.     But  she  could  not  fix  her  attention 


128  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

long  on  it.  Ladies  whose  hearts  are  in  dress,  have  no 
taste  for  books,  however  frivolous ;  can't  sit  them  for 
above  a  second  or  two.  Mrs.  Bazalgette  fidgeted  and 
fidgeted,  and  at  last  rose  and  left  the  room,  book  in 
hand. 

"  How  unkind  I  am,"  said  Lucy  to  herself.  She  was 
sitting  sentinel  till  the  carriage  should  arrive  ;  then  she 
could  run  down  and  prepare  her  uncle  for  his  innocent 
and  accidental  visitor;  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  let 
him  receive  the  information  from  a  servant,  or  without 
the  accompanying  explanation.  This  it  was  that  made 
her  so  unnaturally  firm,  when  the  little  idle  B.  pressed 
her  to  waste  in  play  the  shining  hours. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  went,  book  in  hand,  to  her  bedroom, 
and  she  had  not  been  there  long  before  she  found  employ- 
ment. Many  of  Lucy's  things  were  still  in  the  ward- 
robes. Mrs.  B.  rummaged  them,  inspected  them  at  the 
window,  and  ended  by  ringing  for  her  maid  and  trying 
divers  of  her  niece's  dresses  on.  "  They  make  her 
dresses  better  than  they  do  mine  ;  they  take  more  pains." 
At  last  she  found  one  that  was  new  to  her,  though  Lucy 
had  worn  ifc  several  times  at  Font  Abbey.  "Where  did 
she  get  this,  Jane  ?  " 

"  Present  from  the  old  gentleman,  mum ;  he  had  it 
down  from  London  for  her  all  at  one  time  with  this 
shawl  and  twelve  i^uragloves." 

Lucy  looked  tAvo  inches  taller  than  INIrs.  B.,  but  some- 
how, I  can't  tell  how,  this  dress  of  hers  fitted  the  latter 
like  a  glove.  It  embraced  her ;  it  held  her  tenderly  but 
tight,  as  gowns  and  lovers  should ;  the  poor  dear  could 
not  get  out  of  it.  "  I  must  wear  it  an  hour  or  two," 
said  she.  "  Besides  it  will  save  my  own,  knocking  about 
in  these  country  lanes."  Thus  attired  she  went  into  the 
drawing-room  to  surprise  Lucy.  Now  Lucy  was  deter- 
mined not  to  move;  so,  not  to  be  enticed,  she  did  not 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  129 

even  look  up  from  her  work ;  on  this  the  other  took  a 
mild  huff  and  whisked  out.  So  keen  are  the  feminine 
senses  that  Lucy  on  reflection  recognized  something 
brusque,  perhaps  angry,  in  the  rustle  of  that  retiring 
dress,  and  soon  after  rang  the  bell  and  inquired  where 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  ?     John  Avould  make  henquiries. 

"  Your  haunt  is  in  the  back  garden,  miss." 

"  Walking  ?  or  what  ?  " 

John  would  make  henquiries. 

"  She  is  reading,  miss ;  and  she  is  sitting  on  the  seat 
master  'ad  made  for  ijou,  miss." 

''  Very  well,  thank  you." 

"Any  more  commands,  miss  ?" 

"  Not  at  present."  John  retired  with  a  regretful  air, 
as  one  capable  of  executing  important  commissions,  but 
lost  for  lack  of  opportunity.  All  the  servants  in  this 
house  liked  to  come  into  contact  with  Lucy  ;  she  treated 
them  with  a  digniiied  kindness  and  reserved  politeness 
that  wins  these  good  creatures  more  than  either  arro- 
gance or  familiarity.  "  Jeames  is  not  such  a  fool  as  he 
looks." 

Lucy  was  glad.  Her  aunt  had  got  her  book.  "  It  is  an 
interesting  story ;  she  will  not  miss  me  now,  and  the  car- 
riage will  soon  be  here,  and  theii  I  will  make  up  for  my 
unkindness."  Curiously  enough,  at  this  very  juncture 
the  fair  student  found  something  in  her  parchment  which 
gave  her  some  little  hopes  of  a  favorable  result. 

She  was  following  this  clew  eagerly  when  all  of  a  sud- 
den she  started.  Her  ear  had  caught  the  rattle  of  a 
carriage  over  the  stones  of  the  stable-yard.  She  rang 
the  bell  and  inquired  if  that  was  not  the  carriage. 

"Yes,  miss." 

"  My  uncle  has  sent  it  back  then.  He  is  not  coming 
to-day."     John  would  inquire  of  the  coachman. 

"  Oh,  yes,  miss,  master  is  come ;  but  he  got  out  at  the 


130  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

foot  of  the  hill  and  walked  up  through  the  shrubbery 
with  the  young  gentleman  to  show  him  the  grounds."  On 
this  news  Lucy  rose  hastily,  snatched  up  a  garden-hat, 
and,  without  any  other  preparation,  went  out  to  intercept 
her  uncle.  As  she  stepped  into  the  garden  she  heard  a 
loud  scream  followed  by  angry  voices  :  she  threw  her 
hands  up  to  heaven  in  dismay,  and  ran  towards  the 
sounds.  They  came  from  the  back  garden.  She  went 
like  lightning  round  the  corner  of  the  house,  and  came 
plump  upon  an  agitated  group,  of  whom  she  made  one 
directly  spell-bound.  Here  stood  Aunt  Bazalgette,  her 
head  turned  haughtily,  her  cheeks  scarlet.  There  stood 
Mr.  Fountain  on  the  other  side  of  the  rustic  seat,  red  as 
fire  too,  but  wearing  a  hang-dog  look :  and  behind  him 
young  Arthur  -pale,  with  two  eyes  like  saucers,  gazing 
awe-struck  at  the  first  row  he  had  ever  seen  between  a 
full-grown  lady  and  gentleman. 

Our  narrative  must  take  a  step  to  the  rear,  as  an  excel- 
lent  writer,    Private  ,^  phrases    it ;    otherwise   you 

might  be  misled  to  suppose  that  Uncle  Fountain  was 
quarrelling  with  Mrs.  B.  for  having  set  her  foot  in  sacred 
Font  Abbey. 

No  !  the  pudding  was  richer  than  that.  Mr.  Fountain 
had  young  Arthur  in  charge ;  and,  not  being  an  ill-natured 
old  gentleman,  he  pitied  the  boy  and  did  all  he  could  to 
make  him  feel  he  was  coming  among  friends.  He  sent 
the  carriage  on  and  showed  Arthur  the  grounds,  and 
covertly  praised  the  place  and  all  about  it,  Lucy  in- 
cluded, for  was  not  she  an  appendage  of  his  abbey  ? 
"  You  will  see  my  niece,  a  charming  young  lady  who  will 
be  kind  to  you,  and  you  must  make  friends  with  her: 
she  is  very  accomplished  —  paints.  She  plays  like  an 
angel,  too.     Ah  !  there  she  is  —  she  has  got  the  gown  on 

1  "  I  had  an  escape  myself.  As  I  opened  the  door  of  a  house  a  black  fellow 
was  behind  waiting  for  me,  and  made  a  chop.  I  took  a  step  to  the  rear,  fired 
through  the  door,  and  cooked  his  goose."  —  Times. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  131 

I  gave  her ;  a  compliment  to  me,  a  vevj  pretty  attention, 
Arthur,  the  day  of  my  return.     What  is  she  doing  ?  " 

Arthur  with  his  young  eyes  settled  this  question : 
"  The  lady  is  asleep  —  see,  she  has  dropped  her  book." 
And  in  fact  the  whole  attitude  was  lax,  and  not  ungrace- 
ful. Her  right  hand  hung  down,  and  the  domestic  story, 
its  duty  done,  reposed  beneath. 

"  Now,  Arthur,"  said  the  senior,  making  himself  young 
to  please  the  boy,  and  to  show  him  that  if  he  looked  old 
he  was  not  worn  out,  "  would  you  like  a  bit  of  fun  ?  we 
will  startle  her :  we'll  give  her  a  kiss."  Arthur  hung 
back  irresolute,  and  his  cheeks  were  dyed  with  blushes. 

"  Not  you,  you  young  rogue  :  you  are  not  her  uncle." 
The  old  gentleman  then  stole  up  at  the  back  of  the  seat, 
followed  with  respectful  curiosity  by  Arthur.  She  hap- 
pened to  move  as  the  senior  got  near,  so,  for  fear  she  was 
going  to  wake  of  herself  and  baffle  the  surprise,  he  made 
a  rush,  and  rubbed  his  beard  a  little  roughly  against  Mrs. 
Bazalgette's  cheek.  Up  starts  that  lady,  who  was  not 
fast  asleep,  but  only  under  the  influence  of  the  domestic 
tale,  utters  a  scream,  and,  Avhen  she  sees  her  ravisher, 
goes  into  a  passion. 

"  How  dare  you  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
insult  ?  " 

"  How  came  you  here  ?  "  was  the  reply  in  an  equally 
angry  tone. 

"  Can't  a  lady  come  into  your  little  misery  of  a  garden 
without  being  outraged  ?  " 

"  It  isn't  the  garden,  it  is  only  the  back  garden,"  cried 
the  proprietor  of  Font  Abbey  (blesse).  "  I'll  swear  that 
is  my  niece's  gown :  so  you've  invaded  that  too." 

"Aunt  Bazalgette  —  Uncle  Fountain,  it  was  my  fault," 
sighed  a  piteous  voice.  This  was  Lucy,  who  had  just 
come  on  the  scene.  "  Dear  uncle,  forgive  me  :  it  was  I 
who  invited  her." 


132  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

Lucy's  pathetic  tones,  which  were  fast  degenerating 
into  sobs,  were  agreeably  interrupted. 

At  one  and  the  same  moment  the  man  and  woman  of 
the  world  took  a  new  view  of  the  situation,  looked  at 
one  another,  and  burst  out  laughing.  Both  these  carried 
a  safety-valve  against  clioler  —  a  trait  that  takes  us  into 
many  follies,  but  keeps  us  out  of  others  —  a  sense  of 
humor.  The  next  thing  to  relieve  the  situation  was  the 
senior's  comiDrehensive  vanity.  He  must  recover  young 
Arthur's  reverence,  which  was  doubtless  dissolving  all 
this  time,  "  Now,  Arthur,"  he  whispered,  "  take  a  lesson 
from  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  I  hate  this  she- 
devil  ;  but  this  is  my  house,  so  —  observe  ! "  He  then 
strutted  jauntily  and  feebly  up  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette. 
'*  Madam,  my  niece  says  you  are  her  guest ;  but  permit 
me  to  dispute  her  title  to  that  honor."  Mrs.  Bazalgette 
smiled  agreeably.  She  wanted  to  stay  a  day  or  two  at 
Font  Abbey.  The  senior  flourished  out  his  arm.  "  Let 
me  show  you  what  we  call  the  garden  here."  She  took 
his  arm  graciously.  "I  shall  be  delighted,  sir  [pomp- 
ous old  fool !  "] 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  steeled  her  mind  to  admire  the  garden, 
and  would  have  done  so  Avith  ease  if  it  had  been  hideous. 
But  unfortunately  it  was  pretty,  prettier  than  her  own : 
had  grassy  slopes,  a  fountain,  a  grotto,  variegated  beds, 
and  beds  a  blaze  of  one  color  (a  fashion  not  common  at 
that  time),  item,  a  brook  with  water-lilies  on  its  bosom. 
"This  brook  is  not  mine,  strictly  speaking,"  said  her 
host,  "  I  borrowed  it  of  my  neighbor."  The  lady  opened 
her  eyes ;  so  he  grinned,  and  revealed  a  characteristic 
transaction.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  he  had  found 
the  brook  flowing  through  a  meadow  close  to  his*  garden 
hedge.  He  applied  for  a  lease  of  the  meadow,  and  was 
refused  by  the  proprietor  in  the  following  terms :  '  What 
is  to  become  of  my  cows  ?  '     He  applied  constantly  for 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  133 

ten  years  and  met  the  same  answer.  Proprietor  died, 
the  cows  turned  to  ox-beef,  and  were  eaten  in  London 
along  Avith  flour  and  a  little  turmeric,  and  washed  down 
with  Sj)anish  licorice,  water,  salt,  gentian,  and  a  little 
burnt  malt :  widow  inherited,  made  hay,  and  refused  F. 
the  meadow,  because  her  husband  had  always  refused  him. 
But  in  the  tenth  year  of  her  siege  she  assented,  for  the 
following  reasons  :  primo,  she  had  said  "  no  "  so  often, 
the  word  gave  her  a  sense  of  fatigue  ;  secundo,  she  liked 
variety,  and  thought  a  change  for  the  worse  must  be 
better  than  no  change  at  all. 

Her  tenant  instantly  cut  a  channel  from  the  upper  part 
of  the  stream  into  his  garden,  and  brought  the  brook 
into  the  lawn,  made  it  write  an  S  upon  his  turf,  then 
handed  it  out  again  into  the  meadow  "  none  the  worse," 
his  own  comment.  These  things  could  be  done  in  the 
country  — judis. 

It  cost  Mrs.  Bazalgette  a  struggle  to  admire  the 
garden  and  borrowed  stream  ;  they  were  so  pretty.  She 
made  the  struggle,  and  praised  all.  Lucy  walking  behind 
the  pair,  watched  them  with  innocent  satisfaction.  "  How 
fast  they  are  making  friends,"  thought  she,  mistaking  an 
armistice  for  an  alliance. 

"Since  the  place  is  so  fortunate  as  to  please  you,  you 
will  stay  a  week  with  me,  madam,  at  least." 

"  A  week !  No,  Mr.  Fountain,  I  really  admire  your 
courtesy  too  much  to  abuse  it." 

"  Not  at  all :  you  will  oblige  me." 

''  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  think  so." 

"  You  may  believe  me.     I  have  a  selfish  motive." 

"Oh,  if  you  are  in  earnest." 

"  I  will  explain.  If  you  are  my  guest  for  a  week,  that 
will  give  me  a  claim  to  be  yours  in  turn ;  "  and  he  bent  a 
keen  look  upon  the  lady  as  much  as  to  say.  Now  I  shall 
see  whether  you  dare  let  me  spy  on  you  as  you  are  doing 
on  me. 


134  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"I  propose  an  amendment,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette  with 
a  merry  air  of  defiance;  "for  everyday  I  enjoy  here, 
yon  must  spend  two  beneath  my  roof.  On  this  condition 
I  will  stay  a  week  at  Pont  Abbey." 

"  I  consent,"  said  Mr.  Fountain,  a  little  sharply :  he 
liked  the  bargain.  "  1  must  leave  you  to  Lucy  for  a 
minute.  I  have  some  orders  to  give  :  I  like  my  guests 
to  be  comfortable."  With  this  he  retired  to  his  study 
and  pondered.  "  What  is  she  here  for  ?  it  is  not  affec- 
tion for  Lucy  :  that  is  all  my  eye,  a  selfish  toad  like  her. 
(How  agreeable  she  can  make  herself,  though  !)  She 
heard  I  was  out  and  came  here  to  spy  directly.  That 
was  sharp  practice.  Better  not  give  her  a  chance  of  see- 
ing my  game.  I  disarmed  her  suspicion  by  asking  her 
to  stay  a  week,  aha !  Well,  during  that  week  Talboys 
must  not  come,  that  is  all :  aha,  my  lady,  I  won't  give 
those  cunning  eyes  of  yours  a  chance  of  looking  over  my 
hand."  He  then  wrote  a  note  to  Talboys  telling  him 
there  was  a  guest  at  Font  Abbey,  a  disagreeable  woman 
"who  makes  mischief  whenever  she  can.  She  would  be 
sure  to  divine  our  intentions,  and  use  all  her  influence 
with  Lucy  to  spite  me.  You  had  better  stay  away  till 
she  is  gone."  He  sent  this  off  by  a  servant,  then  pon- 
dered again. 

"  She  suspects  something :  then  that  is  a  sign  she  has 
her  own  designs  on  Lucy.  Hum  !  No.  If  she  had,  she 
would  not  have  invited  me  to  her  house.  She  invited  me 
directly  and  cheerfully.     Hum ! " 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  walked  and  sat  with  an  arm  round 
Lucy's  waist,  and  told  her  seven  times  before  dinner  how 
happy  she  was  at  the  prospect  of  a  quiet  week  with  her. 
In  the  evening  she  yawned  eleven  times.  Next  day  phe 
asked  Lucy  who  was  coming  to  dinner  ? 

"Nobody,  dear." 

"Nobody  at  all?" 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  135 

"  I  thought  you  Avould  perhaps  not  care  to  have  our 
tete-a-tete  interrupted  yet." 

'''  Oh !  but  I  shoukl  like  to  explore  the  natives  too." 

"I  will  give  uncle  a  hint,  dear."  The  hint  was  given 
very  delicately,  but  the  malicious  senior  had  a  perverse 
construction  ready  immediately.  "  So  this  is  her  mighty 
affection  for  you;  can't  get  through  two  days  without 
strangers." 

"  Uncle,"  said  Lucy  imploringly,  "  she  is  so  used  to 
society,  and  she  has  me  all  day.  We  ought  to  give  her 
some  little  amusement  at  night." 

"  ^Vell,  I  can't  make  up  parties  now ;  my  friends  are 
all  in  London.  She  only  wants  something  to  flirt  with. 
Send  for  David  Dodd." 

"  What,  for  her  to  flirt  with  ?  " 

"Yes,  he  is  a  handsome  fellow;  he  will  serve  her 
turn." 

"  For  shame,  uncle ;  what  would  Mr.  Bazalgette  say  ? 
Poor  aunt,  she  is  a  coquette  now." 

"  And  has  been  this  twenty  years." 

"  Now  I  was  thinking  —  Mr.  Talboys  ?  " 

"  Talboys  is  not  at  home  ;  she  must  be  content  with 
lower  game.     She  shall  bring  down  David." 

Lucy  hesitated.  "I  don't  think  she  will  like  Mr.  Dodd, 
and  I  am  sure  he  will  not  like  her." 

"  How  can  you  know  that  ?  " 

"He  is  so  honest.  He  will  not  understand  a  woman 
of  the  world,  and  her  little  in — sin  —  no,  I  don't  mean 
that." 

"Well,  if  he  does  not  understand  her,  he  may  like  her." 

"Aunt,  he  has  made  me  ask  the  Dodds  to  tea,  and  I 
am  afraid  you  will  not  like  them." 

"Well,  if  I  don't,  we  must  try  some  more  natives  to- 
morrow. Who  are  they  ?  "  Lucy  told  her.  "  Pretty 
people  to  ask  to  meet  me,"  said  she  loftily.     This  score 


136  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

dissolved  in  the  course  of  the  evening.  Lucy,  anxious 
her  guests  should  be  pleased  with  one  another,  drew  the 
Dodds  out,  especially  David;  made  him  spin  a  yarn. 
With  this  and  his  good  looks  he  so  pleased  Mrs.  Bazal- 
gette  that  it  was  the  last  yarn  he  ever  span  during  her 
stay ;  she  took  a  fancy  to  him,  and  set  herself  to  capti- 
vate him  with  sprightly  ardor. 

David  received  her  advances  politely,  but  a  little  coldly ; 
the  lady  was  very  agreeable,  but  she  kept  him  from  Lucy. 
He  hardly  got  three  words  with  her  all  the  evening.  As 
they  went  home  together  Eve  sneered.  "Well,  you  man- 
aged nicely  ;  it  was  your  business  to  make  friends  with 
that  lady." 

"  With  all  my  heart." 

"  Then  why  didn't  you  do  what  she  bid  you  ?  " 

"  She  gave  me  no  orders  that  I  heard,"  said  the  literal 
first  mate. 

'•'  She  gave  you  a  plain  hint,  though." 

"  To  do  what  ?  " 

"  To  do  what,  stupid  ?  why,  to  make  love  to  her,  to  be 
sure." 

"Why,  she  is  a  married  woman." 

"  If  she  chooses  to  forget  that,  is  it  your  business  to 
remember  it  ?  " 

"  And  if  she  was  single,  and  the  loveliest  in  the  world, 
how  could  I  court  her  when  my  heart  is  full  of  an 
angel  ?  " 

"  If  your  heart  is  full,  your  head  is  empty.  Why,  you 
see  nothing." 

"  I  can't  see  why  I  should  belie  my  heart." 

"  Can't  you  ?  Then  I  can.  David,  in  less  than  a  month 
Miss  Fountain  goes  to  this  lady  and  stays  a  quarter  of  a 
year.  She  told  me  so  herself.  Oh,  my  ears  are  always 
open  in  your  service,  ever  since  I  did  agree  to  be  as 
great  a  fool  as  you  are.     Now,  don't  you  see,  that  if  you 


LOVE  ilE  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  137 

can't  get  Mrs.  Bazalgette  to  invite  you  to  her  house,  you 
must  take  leave  of  the  other  here  forever." 

"  I  see  what  you  mean.  Eve,  how  wise  you  are !  It  is 
wonderful.  But  what  is  to  be  done  ?  I  am  bad  at  feign- 
ing.    I  can't  make  love  to  her." 

"  But  you  can  let  her  make  love  to  you.  Is  that  an 
effort  you  feel  equal  to  ?  and  I  must  do  the  rest.  Oh, 
we  have  a  nice  undertaking  before  us.  But  if  boys  will 
cry  for  fruit  tliat  is  out  of  their  reach,  and  their  silly 
sisters  will  indulge  them  —  don't  slobber  me." 

"  You  are  such  a  dear  girl  to  fight  for  me  so,  a  little 
against  your  judgment." 

"A  little,  eh  ?  Dead  against  it,  you  mean.  Don't  look 
so  blank,  David,  you  are  all  right  as  far  as  me ;  when 
my  heart  is  on  your  side,  you  can  snap  your  fingers  at 
my  judgment." 

David  was  cheered  by  this  gracious  revelation. 

Eve  was  a  tormenting  little  imp.  She  could  not  help 
reminding  him  every  now  and  then  that  all  her  manoeuvres 
and  all  his  love  were  to  end  in  disappointment. 

These  discouraging  comments  had  dashed  poor  David's 
spirits  more  than  once;  but  he  was  beginning  to  discover 
that  they  were  invariably  accompanied  or  followed  by  an 
access  of  cheerful  zeal  in  the  desperate  cause ;  a  pleas- 
ing phenomenon,  though  somewhat  unintelligible  to  this 
honest  fellow,  who  had  never  microscoped  the  enigmati- 
cal sex. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  reproached  Lucy.  "You  never  told 
me  how  handsome  Mr.  Dodd  was  ! " 

"Didn't  I?" 

"No.     He  is  the  handsomest  man  I  ever  saw." 

"  I  have  not  observed  that,  but  I  think  he  is  one  of 
the  worthiest." 

"  I  should  not  wonder,"  said  the  other  lady  carelessly. 
"It  is  clear  you  don't  appreciate  him  here.  You  half 
apologized  to  me  for  inviting  him." 


138  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME  LOKG. 

"  That  was  because  you  are  such  a  fashionable  lady, 
and  the  Dodds  have  no  such  pretensions." 

"  All  the  better ;  my  taste  is  not  for  sophisticated 
people ;  I  only  put  up  with  them  because  I  am  obliged. 
Why,  Lucy,  you  ought  to  know  how  my  heart  yearns  for 
nature  and  truth;  I  am  sure  I  have  told  you  so  often 
enough.  An  hour  spent  with  a  simple,  natural  creature, 
like  Captain  Dodd,  refreshes  me  as  a  cooling  breeze  after 
the  heat  and  odors  of  a  crowded  room." 

"  Miss  Dodd  is  very  natural,  too,  is  she  not  ?  " 

"Very.  Pertness  and  vulgarity  are  natural  enough  — 
to  some  people." 

"  My  uncle  likes  her  the  best  of  the  two." 

"  Then  your  uncle  is  mad.  But  the  fact  is,  men  are  no 
judges  in  such  cases;  they  are  always  unjust  to  their 
own  sex,  and  as  blind  to  the  faults  of  ours  as  beetles." 

"  But  surely,  aunt,  she  is  very  arch  and  lively." 

"  Pert  and  fussy,  jow  mean." 

"  Pretty,  at  all  events  —  rather  ?  " 

"  What,  with  that  snub  nose  ?  " 

Lucy  offered  to  invite  other  neighbors.  Mrs.  Bazal- 
gette  replied  she  didn't  want  to  be  bothered  with  rurality. 
"  You  can  ask  Captain  Dodd,  if  you  like ;  there  is  no 
need  to  invite  the  sister." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  must ;  my  uncle  likes  her  the  best." 

"  But  /  don't ;  and  I  am  only  here  for  a  day  or  two." 

"  Miss  Dodd  would  be  hurt.  It  would  be  unkind,  dis- 
courteous." 

"No,  no.  She  watches  him  all  the  time  like  a  little 
dragon." 

"J2)r^s?  We  have  no  sinister  designs  on  Mr.  Dodd, 
have  we  ?  "  and  something  unusually  keen  flashed  upon 
Aunt  Bazalgette  out  of  the  tail  of  the  quiet  Lucy's  eye. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  looked  cross.  "Nonsense,  Lucy;  so 
tiresome  !  Can't  we  have  an  agreeable  person  without 
tacking  on  a  disagreeable  one  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  139 

''Aunt,"  said  Lucy  pathetically,  "ask  me  anything 
else  in  the  world ;  but  don't  ask  me  to  be  rude,  for  / 
can't:' 

"  Well,  then,  you  are  bound  to  entertain  her,  since  she 
is  your  choice,  and  leave  me  mine." 

Lucy  acquiesced  softly. 

David,  tutored  by  his  sister,  now  tried  to  seem  inter- 
ested in  her  who  came  between  him  and  Lucy ;  and  a 
miserable  hand  he  made  of  this  his  first  piece  of  acting. 
Luckily  for  him  Mrs.  Bazalgette  liked  the  sound  of  her 
own  voice ;  and  his  good  looks,  too,  went  a  long  way  with 
the  mature  woman.  Lucy  and  Eve  sat  together  at  the 
tea-table ;  Mr.  Fountain  slumbered  below ;  Arthur  was 
in  the  study  nailed  to  a  novel ;  Eve,  under  a  careless 
exterior,  watched  intently  to  find  out  if  Lucy  imder  her 
calm  surface  cared  for  David  at  all  or  not,  and  also 
Avatched  for  a  chance  to  serve  him.  She  observed  a  cer- 
tain languor  about  the  young  lady,  but  no  attemi:)t  to 
take  David  from  the  coquette.  At  last,  however,  Lucy 
did  say  demurely,  "Mr.  Dodd  seems  to  appreciate  my 
aunt." 

"  Don't  you  think  it  is  rather  the  other  way  ?  " 

"That  is  an  insidious  question.  Miss  Dodd.  I  shall 
make  no  admissions ;  but  I  warn  you,  she  is  a  very  fasci- 
nating woman." 

"  My  brother  is  greatly  admired  by  the  ladies,  too." 

"  Oh,  since  I  praised  my  champion,  you  have  a  right 
to  praise  yours.  But  he  will  get  the  worst  in  that  little 
encounter." 

"Why  so?" 

"Because  my  sprightly  aunt  forgets  the  very  names 
of  her  conquests  when  once  she  has  thoroughly  made 
them." 

"  She  will  never  make  this  one.  My  brother  carries 
an  armor  against  coquettes." 


140  LOVE   ]SIE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Ay,  indeed,  and  pray  what  may  that  be  ?  "  inquired 
Lucy  a  little  quizzingly. 

"  A  true  and  deep  attachment." 

"Ah!" 

"  And  if  you  look  at  him  a  little  closer  you  will  see 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  get  away  from  that  old  flirt ; 
but  David  is  very  polite  to  ladies." 

Lucy  stole  a  look  from  under  her  silken  lashes,  and 
it  so  happened  that  at  that  very  moment  she  encountered 
a  sorrowful  glance  from  David,  that  said  plainly  enough : 
I  am  obliged  to  be  here,  but  I  long  to  be  there.  She 
received  this  glance  full  in  her  eyes,  absorbed  it  blandly, 
then  lowered  her  lashes  a  moment,  then  turned  her  head 
with  a  sweet  smile  towards  Eve.  "I  think  you  said 
your  brother  was  engaged." 

"No." 

"  I  misunderstood  you,  then." 

"Yes."  Eve  uttered  this  monosyllable  so  dryly  that 
Lucy  drew  back,  and  immediately  turned  the  conversa- 
tion into  chit-chat. 

It  had  not  trickled  above  ten  minutes  when  an  exclama- 
tion from  David  interrupted  it ;  the  young  ladies  turned 
instinctively,  and  there  was  David  flushing  all  over,  and 
speaking  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette  with  a  tremulous  warmth, 
that,  addressed  as  it  was  to  a  pretty  woman,  sounded 
marvellously  like  love-making. 

Lucy  turned  her  crest  round  a  little  haughtily,  and 
shot  such  a  glance  on  Eve.  Eve  read  in  it  a  compound 
of  triumph  and  pique. 

David  came  to  Eve  one  morning  with  parchments  in 
his  hand,  and  a  merry  smile,     "Eureka." 

"'  You're  another,"  said  Eve,  as  quick  as  lightning,  and 
upon  speculation. 

"I  have  made  j\[r.  Fountain's  pedigree  out,"  explained 
David. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  141 

"You  don't  say  so  :  won't  he  be  pleased! " 

"Yes.     Do  you  think  she  will  be  pleased  ?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  She  will  look  pleased  anyway.  I  say, 
don't  you  go  and  tell  them  the  whole  county  was  owned 
by  the  Dodds  before  Fountain  or  Funteyn  or  Font  was 
ever  heard  of." 

"  Hardly.  I  have  my  own  weaknesses,  my  lass.  I've 
no  need  to  adopt  another  man's." 

"  Bless  my  soul,  how  wise  you  are  got !  So  sudden, 
too  !  You  shouldn't  surprise  a  body  like  that.  Lucky 
I'm  not  hysterical.  Now  let  me  think,  David  —  Solo- 
mon, I  mean :  no,  you  shall  keep  this  discovery  back 
awhile :  it  may  be  wanted."  She  then  reminded  him 
that  the  Fountains  were  capricious,  that  they  had  dropped 
him  for  a  week  and  might  again :  if  so,  this  might  be 
useful  to  unlock  their  street  door  to  him  at  need. 

"  Good  heavens,  Eve ;  what  cunning  !  " 

"  David,  when  I  have  a  bad  cause  in  hand,  I  do  one  of 
two  things,  I  drop  it,  or  I  go  into  it  heart  and  soul.  If 
my  zeal  offends  you,  I  can  retire  from  the  contest  Avitli 
great  pleasure." 

"  No  !  no  !  no  !  no  !  no  !  If  you  leave  the  helm  I  shall 
go  ashore  directly  "  —  dismay  of  David :  grim  satisfaction 
of  his  imp. 

This  matter  settled,  David  asked  Eve  if  she  did  not 
think  Master  Nelson  (Mr.  Fountain's  new  Avard)  was  a 
very  nice  boy. 

"Yes,  and  I  see  he  has  taken  a  wonderful  fancy  to 
you." 

"  And  so  have  I  to  him  :  we  have  had  one  or  two  walks 
together.     He  is  to  come  here  at  twelve  o'clock  to-day." 

"  Now  why  couldn't  you  have  asked  me  first,  David  ? 
The  painters  are  coming  into  the  house  to-day,  and  the 
paperers  and  all :  and  we  can't  be  bothered  with  mathe- 
matics.    You  must  do  them  at  Font  Abbey."     Eve  was 


142  lo\t:  me  little,  love  me  long. 

a  little  cross.  David  only  laughed  at  lier :  but  he  hesi- 
tated about  making  a  schoolhouse  of  Font  Abbey,  it 
would  look  like  intruding. 

"Pooh,  nonsense,"  said  Eve,  "they  will  only  be  too 
glad  to  take  advantage  of  your  good  nature." 

"  He  is  an  orphan,"  said  David,  doggedly. 

However,  the  lesson  was  given  at  Font  Abbey,  and, 
after  it,  Master  Nelson  came  bounding  into  the  drawing- 
room  to  the  ladies. 

"  Oh,  Lucy,  Mr.  Dodd  is  such  a  beautiful  geometrician ! 
He  has  been  giving  me  a  lesson :  he  is  going  to  give  me 
one  every  day.  —  He  knows  a  great  deal  more  than  my 
last  tutor."  On  this  Master  Nelson  was  questioned,  and 
revealed  that  a  friendship  existed  between  him  and  Mr. 
Dodd,  such  as  girls  are  incapable  of  (this  was  levelled 
at  Lucy)  ;  being  cross-examined  as  to  the  date  of  this 
friendship,  he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  it  had  only 
existed  four  days ;  but  was  to  last  to  death. 

"But,  Arthur,"  said  Lucy,  "will  not  this  take  up  too 
much  of  Mr.  Dodd's  time  ?  I  think  you  had  better 
consult  Uncle  Fountain  before  you  make  a  positive 
arrangement  of  the  kind." 

"Oh,  I  have  spoken  to  my  guardian  about  it,  and  he 
was  so  pleased.  He  said  that  would  save  him  a  mathe- 
matical tutor." 

"Oh,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  "Mr.  Dodd  is  to 
teach  mathematics  gratis." 

"My  friend  is  a  gentleman,"  was  the  tumid  reply. 
(Juveniles  have  a  pomposity  all  their  own,  and  exqui- 
sitely delicious  : )  ^  "  we  read  together  because  we  like 
one  another,  and  that  is  why  we  walk  together  and  play 
together :  if  we  were  to  offer  him  money  he  would  throw 
it  at  our  heads  : "  Mr.  Arthur  then  relaxed  his  severity, 
and  condescending  once  more  to  the  familiar,  added — • 

1  Head  the  Oxford  Essays. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  143 

"And  lie  has  made  me  a  kite,  on  mathematical  principles, 
such  a  whacker :  those  in  the  shops  are  no  use :  and  he 
has  sent  his  mother's  Bath-chair  on  to  the  Downs,  and 
he  is  going  to  show  me  the  kite  dra\V  him  ten  knots  an 
hour  in  it :  a  knot  means  a  mile,  Lucy :  so  I  can't  stay 
wasting  my  time  here ;  only,  if  you  want  to  see  some 
fun  for  once  in  your  lives,  come  on  the  Downs  in  about 
an  hour  —  will  you  ?     Oh,  yes  !  do  come  ! " 

"Certainly  not,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  sharply. 

"  Excuse  us,  dear,"  said  Lucy  in  the  same  breath. 

"  Well,  Lucy,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  "  am  I  wrong 
about  your  uncle's  selfishness  ?  I  have  tried  in  vain 
ever  since  I  came  here  to  make  you  see  it  where  you 
were  the  only  sufferer." 

"  Not  quite  in  vain,  aunt,"  said  Lucy  sadly ;  "  you 
have  shown  me  defects  in  my  poor  uncle  that  I  should 
never  have  discovered." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  smiled  grimly. 

"  Only  as  you  hate  him,  and  I  love  him,  and  always 
mean  to  love  him,  permit  me  to  call  his  defects  '  thought- 
lessness.' You  can  apply  the  harsh  term  'selfishness'  to 
the  most  good-natured,  kind,  indulgent  —  oh  ! " 

"  Ha  !  ha !  Don't  cry,  you  silly  girl.  Thoughtless  ? 
a  calculating  old  goose,  who  is  eternally  aiming  to  be  a 
fox  —  never  says  or  does  anything  without  meaning 
something  a  mile  off.  Luckily  his  veil  is  so  thin  that 
everybody  sees  through  it  but  you.  What  do  you  think 
of  his  thought-less-ness  in  getting  a  tutor  gratis  ?  Poor 
Mr.  Dodd  ! " 

"  I  will  answer  for  it,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  Mr.  Dodd  to 
be  of  service  to  his  little  friend,"  said  Lucy,  warmly. 

"  How  do  you  knoAv  a  bore  is  a  pleasure  to  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Dodd  is  a  new  acquaintance  of  yours,  aunt,  but 
I  have  had  opportunities  of  observing  his  character :  and 
I  assure  you  all  this  pity  is  wasted." 


144  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Why,  Lucy,  what  did  you  say  to  Arthur  just  now  ? 
You  are  contradicting  yourself.'^ 

"  What  a  love  of  opposition  I  must  have  !  Are  you 
not  tired  of  in-doors  ?     Shall  we  go  into  the  village  ?  " 

"  No  !     I  exhausted  the  village  yesterday." 

''The  garden? 

''No." 

"Well  then,  suppose  we  sketch  the  church  together. 
There  is  a  good  light." 

"No.     Let  us  go  on  the  Downs,  Lucy." 

"  Why,  aunt,  it  —  it  is  a  long  walk." 

"All  the  better." 

"  But  we  said  '  No.'  " 

"  What  has  that  to  do  with  it  ?  " 

Arthur  was  right :  the  kites  that  are  sold  by  shops  of 
prey  are  not  proportioned  nor  balanced ;  that  is  probably 
in  some  way  connected  with  the  circumstance  that  they 
are  made  to  sell,  not  fly.  The  monster  kite  constructed 
by  the  light  of  Euclid  rose  steadily  into  the'  air  like  a 
balloon,  and  eventually,  being  attached  to  the  chair,  drew 
Mr.  Arthur  at  a  reasonable  pace  about  half  a  mile  over  a 
narrow  but  level  piece  of  turf  that  was  on  the  top  of  the 
Downs ;  Q.E.D.  This  done,  these  two  patient  creatures 
had  to  wind  the  struggling  monster  in  and  go  back  again 
to  the  starting-point.  Before  they  had  quite  achieved 
this,  two  petticoats  mounted  the  hill  and  moved  towards 
them  across  the  plateau.  At  sight  of  them  David  thrilled 
from  head  to  foot,  and  Arthur  cried,  "  Oh,  bother  ! "  an 
unjust  ejaculation ;  since  it  was  by  his  invitation  they 
came.  His  alarms  were  verified.  The  ladies  made  them- 
selves number  one  directly,  and  the  poor  kite  became  a 
shield  for  flirtation.     Arthur  was  so  cross. 

At  last  the  B.'s  desire  to  occupy  attention  brought  her 
to  the  verge  of  trouble.  Seeing  David  saying  a  word  to 
Lucy,  she  got  into  the  chair  and  went  gayly  off  drawn 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME    LONG.  145 

by  the  kite,  which  Arthur  with  a  mighty  struggle  suc- 
ceeded in  hooking  to  the  car  for  her.  Now  the  plateau 
Avas  narrow,  and  the  chair  wanted  guiding ;  it  was  easy 
to  guide  it,  but  Mrs.  Bazalgette  did  not  know  how ;  so  it 
sidled  in  a  pertinacious  and  horrid  way  towards  a  long 
and  steepish  slope  on  the  left  side.  She  began  to  scream, 
Arthur  to  laugh :  the  young  are  cruel ;  and,  I  am  afraid, 
though  he  stood  perfectly  neu.tral  to  all  appearance,  his 
heart  within  nourished  black  designs.  But  David  came 
flying  up  at  her  screams  —  just  in  time.  He  caught  the 
lady's  shoulders  as  she  glided  over  the  brow  of  the  slope, 
and  lifted  her  by  his  great  strength  up  out  of  the  chair, 
which  went  the  next  moment  bounding  and  jumping 
athwart  the  hill  and  soon  rolled  over  and  grovelled  in 
rather  an  ugly  Avay. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  sobbed  and  cried  so  prettily  on  David's 
shoulder,  and  had  to  be  petted  and  soothed  by  all  hands. 
Inward  composure  soon  returned,  though  not  outward, 
and  in  due  course  histrionics  commenced.  First  the 
sprain  business ;  none  of  you  do  it  better,  ladies,  what- 
ever you  may  think.  David  had  to  carry  her  a  bit. 
But  she  was  too  wise  to  be  a  bore.  Next  the  heroic 
business ;  loould  be  put  down,  would  walk,  possible  or 
not,  xoould  not  be  a  trouble  to  her  kind  friends.  Then 
the  martyr  smiling  through  pain.  David  was  very  at- 
tentive to  her;  for  Avhile  he  was  carrying  her  in  his 
arms  she  had  won  his  affection,  all  he  could  spare  from 
Lucy.  Which  of  you  can  tell  all  the  consequences  if 
you  go  and  carry  a  pretty  woman  with  her  little  insinu- 
ating -mouth  close  to  your  ears  ? 

Lucy  and  Arthur  walked  behind.  Arthur  sighed. 
Lucy  was  reveuse.     Arthur  broke  silence  first.     "  Lucy  ! " 

"Yes,  dear." 

"  When  is  she  going  ?  " 

"Arthur,  for  shame  !     I  won't  tell  you.     To-morrow." 


146  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

"  Lucy,"  said  Arthur  with  a  depth  of  feeling,  "  she 
spoils  everything  ! " 

Next  morning Come  hack  ?    What  for  ?     /  will 

have  the  goodness  to  tell  you  what  she  said  in  his  ear? 
Why,  nothing. 

Yoii  are  a  female  reader  ?  Oh  !  that  alters  the  case  : 
to  attempt  to  deceive  you  would  be  cowardly,  immoral, 
it  would  fail.  She  sighed  "  My  preserver !  "  at  which 
David  had  much  ado  not  to  laugh  in  her  face.  Then 
she  murmured  still  more  softly,  "  You  must  come  and 
see  me  at  my  home  before  you.  sail  —  will  you  not  ?  I 
insist  (in  the  tone  of  a  supplicant)  come  !  promise  me  ! " 

"That  I  will  —  with  pleasure,"  said  David,  flushing. 

"  Mind !  it  is  a  promise.  Put  me  doAvn !  Lucy,  come 
here  and  make  him  put  me  down.  I  will  not  be  a  burden 
to  my  friends." 


LOVE   ]SrE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  147 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

That  same  evening,  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  being  alone  with 
Lncy  in  the  drawing-room,  put  her  arm  round  that  young 
lady's  waist,  and  lovingly,  not  seriously,  as  a  man  might 
have  been  apt  to  do,  reminded  her  of  her  honorable 
promise  —  not  to  be  caught  in  the  net  of  matrimony  at 
Font  Abbey.  Lucy  answered,  without  embarrassment, 
that  she  claimed  no  merit  for  keeping  her  Avord  :  no  one 
had  had  the  ill  taste  to  invite  her  to  break  it. 

"  You  are  either  very  sly,  or  very  blind,"  replied  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  quietly. 

''  Aunt ! "  said  Lucy  piteously. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette,  who,  by  many  a  subtle  question  and 
observation  during  the  last  week,  had  satisfied  herself 
of  Lucy's  innocence,  now  set  to  work  and  laid  Uncle 
Fountain  bare. 

"  I  do  not  speak  in  a  hurry,  Lucy ;  a  hint  came  round 
to  me  a  fortnight  ago  that  you  had  an  admirer  here  — 
and  it  turns  out  to  be  this  Mr.  Talboys." 

"  Mr.  Talboys  ?  " 

"  Yes.  Does  that  surprise  you  ?  Do  you  think  a 
young  gentleman  would  come  to  Font  Abbey  three  nights 
a  week  without  a  motive  ?  " 

Lucy  reflected. 

"  It  is  all  over  the  place  that  you  two  are  engaged." 

Lucy  colored,  and  her  eyes  flashed  with  something 
very  like  anger ;  but  she  held  her  peace. 

"Ask  Jane  else." 

"  What,  take  my  servant  into  my  confidence  ?  " 

"Oh,  there  is  a  way  of  setting  that  sort  of  people 


148  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

chattering,  without  seeming  to  take  any  notice.  To  tell 
the  truth,  I  have  done  it  for  you.  It  is  all  over  the 
village,  and  all  over  the  house." 

"The  proper  person  to  ask  must  have  been  Uncle 
Fountain  himself." 

"  As  if  he  would  have  told  me  the  truth." 

"  He  is  a  gentleman,  aunt,  and  would  not  have  uttered 
a  falsehood." 

"  Doctrine  of  chivalry  !  He  would  have  uttered  half 
a  dozen  in  one  minute.  Besides,  why  should  I  question  a 
person  I  can  read  without  ?  Your  uncle,  with  his  baby- 
ish cunning* that  everybody  sees  through,  has  given  me 
the  only  proof  I  wanted.  He  has  not  had  Mr.  Talboys 
here  once  since  I  came." 

"  Cunning  little  aunt !  Mr.  Talboys  happens  not  to 
be  at  home :  uncle  told  me  so  himself." 

"  Simple  little  niece  —  uncle  told  you  a  fib ;  Mr. 
Talboys  is  at  home.  And  observe  !  until  I  came  to  Font 
Abbey,  he  was  here  three  times  a  week.  You  admit 
that.  I  come ;  your  uncle  knows  I  am  not  so  unobserv- 
ant as  you.     Mr.  Talboys  is  kept  out  of  sight." 

"  The  proof  that  my  uncle  has  deceived  me  ?  "  said 
Lucy  coldly,  and  with  lofty  incredulity. 

"Read  that  note  from  Miss  Dodd." 

"  What !  you  in  correspondence  with  Miss  Dodd  ?  " 

"That  is  to  say,  she  has  thrust  herself  into  corre- 
spondence with  me;  just  like  her  assurance." 

The  letter  ran  thus  :  — 

Dear  Madam, — INIy  brother  requests  me  to  say  that  in 
compliance  with  your  request  he  called  at  the  lodge  of  Talljoys 
Park,  and  the  people  informed  him  Mr.  Talboys  has  not  left 
Talboys  Park  at  all  since  Easter.     I  remain 

Yours,  etc. 

Lucy  was  dumfounded. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  149 

"I  suspected  something,  Lucy,  so  I  asked  Mr.  Dodd 
to  inquire." 

"  It  was  a  singular  commission  to  send  him  on." 

"  Oh,  he  takes  long  Avalks,  cruises  he  calls  them,  and 
he  is  so  good-natured.  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  your 
uncle's  veracity  now  ?  " 

Lucy  was  troubled  and  distressed;  but  she  mastered 
her  countenance.  "  I  think  he  has  sacrificed  it  for  once 
to  his  affection  for  me.  I  fear  you  are  right ;  my  eyes 
are  opened  to  many  circumstances.  But  do,  oh,  pray  do, 
see  his  goodness  in  all  this  !  " 

"  The  goodness  of  a  story-teller." 

"He  admires  Mr.  Talboys.  He  reveres  him.  No 
doubt  he  wished  to  secure  his  poor  niece  what  he  thinks 
a  great  match,  and  now  you  assign  ill  motives  to  him. 
Yes,  I  confess  he  has  deviated  from  truth :  cruel !  cruel ! 
what  can  you  give  me  in  exchange,  if  you  rob  me  of  my 
esteem  for  those  I  love  ?  " 

This  innocent  distress  with  its  cause  was  too  deep  for 
a  lady  whose  bright  little  intelligence  leaned  towards 
cunning  rather  than  wisdom  ;  in  spite  of  her  niece's 
trouble,  and  the  brimming  eyes  that  implored  forbear- 
ance, she  drove  the  sting  merrily  in  again  and  again,  till 
at  last  Lucy,  who  was  not  defending  herself,  but  an 
absent  friend,  turned  a  little  suddenly  on  her,  and 
said,  — 

"  And  do  you  think  he  says  nothing  against  you  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  he  is  a  backbiter  too,  is  he  ?  I  didn't  know  he 
had  that  vice.  Ah !  and  pray  what  can  he  find  to  say 
against  me  ?  " 

"  Oh !  people  that  hate  one  another  can  always  find 
something  ill-natured  to  say,"  retorted  Lucy,  with  a 
world  of  meaning. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  turned  red,  and  her  little  nose  went  up 
into  the  air  at  an  angle  of   forty-five.     She  said  with 


150  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

majestic  disdain,  "I  don't  hate  the  man.     I  don't  con,' 
descend  to  hate  him." 

"Then  don't  condescend  to  hackhite  him,  dear." 

This  home-thrust  coming  from  such  a  quarter  took 
away  my  Lady  Disdain's  very  breath.  She  sat  trans- 
fixed ;  then  upon  reflection  got  up  a  tear,  and  had  to  be 
petted. 

This  sweet  lady  departed,  flinging  down  her  fire-brand 
on  those  hospitable  boards. 

Lucy,  though  she  had  defended  her  uncle,  was  not  a 
little  vexed  that  he  had  managed  matters  so  as  to  get 
her  talked  of  with  Mr.  Talboys.  Her  natural  modesty 
and  reserve  prevented  her  from  remonstrating.  Nor  was 
there  any  positive  necessity.  She  was  one  of  those 
young  ladies  who  seem  born  mistresses  of  the  art  of 
self-defence.  Deriving  the  art,  not  from  experience  but 
from  instinct,  they  are  as  adroit  at  seventeen  as  they  are 
at  twenty-seven :  even  so  a  last  year's  bird  constructs 
her  first  nest  as  cunningly  as  can  a  veteran  feathered 
architect. 

Therefore,  without  a  grain  of  discourtesy  or  tangible 
ill-temper,  she  quietly  froze,  and  a  small  family  with 
her,  they  could  not  tell  how  or  why  :  for  they  had  never 
suspected  this  girl's  power ;  you  would  have  seemed  to 
them  as  one  that  mocketh  had  you  told  them  they  owed 
their  gayety,  their  good-humor,  their  happiness,  and  their 
conversational  powers,  to  her. 

Of  these  Talboys  suffered  the  most.  She  brought  him 
to  a  stand-still  by  a  very  simple  process.  She  no  longer 
patted  or  spurred  him  :  to  vary  the  metaphor,  a  man  that 
has  no  current  must  be  stirred  or  stagnate ;  Lucy's  light 
hand  stirred  Talboys  no  more  ;  Talboys  stagnated.  Mr. 
Fountain  suffered  next  in  j)roportion.  He  began  to  find 
that  something  was  the  matter,  but  what  he  had  no  idea. 
He  did  not  observe  that,  though  Lucy  answered  him  as 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  151 

kindly  as  ever,  she  did  not  draw  him  out  as  heretofore, 
far  less  that  she  was  vexed  with  him,  and  on  her  guard 
against  him  and  everybody,  like  a  maitresse  d'armes. 
No !  "  the  days  were  drawing  in.  The  air  was  heavy ; 
no  carbon  in  it.  Wind  in  the  east  again ! "  etc.  So 
subtle  is  the  influence  of  these  silly  little  creatures  upon 
creation's  lords. 

Mr.  Talboys  did  not  take  delicate  hints :  he  continued 
his"  visits  three  times  a  week,  and  the  coast  was  kept 
clear  for  him.  On  this,  Miss  Fountain  proceeded  to 
overt  acts  of  war.  She  brought  a  champion  on  the 
scene,  a  terrible  champion,  a  champion  so  irresistible 
that  I  set  any  woman  down  as  a  coward  who  lets  him 
loose  upon  a  sex  already  so  unequal  so  the  contest  as 
ours.  What  that  champion's  real  name  is,  I  have  in  vain 
endeavored  to  discover ;  but  he  is  called  •'  Headache." 
When  this  terrible  ally  mingled  in  the  game  —  on  the 
Talboys  nights,  —  dismay  fell  upon  the  wretched  males 
that  abode  in  and  visited  the  once  cheerful,  cosey  Font 
Abbey.  Messrs.  Fountain  and  Talboys  put  their  heads 
together  in  grave,  anxious  consultations,  and  Arthur 
vented  a  yell  of  remonstrance.  He  found  the  lady 
one  afternoon  preparing  indisposition.  She  was  leaning 
languidly  back,  and  the  fire  Avas  dying  out  of  her  eye, 
and  the  color  out  of  her  cheek,  and  the  blinds  were  drawn 
down.  The  poor  boy  burst  in  upon  this  prologue.  "  Oh, 
Lucy,"  he  cried,  in  piteous,  foreboding  tones,  ''don't  go 
and  have  a  headache  to-night.  It  was  so  jolly  till  you 
took  to  these  stupid  headaches." 

"  I  am  so  sorry,  Arthur,"  said  Lucy,  apologetically, 
but  at  bottom  she  was  inexorable.  The  disease  reached 
its  climax  just  before  dinner;  all  remedies  failed,  and 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  return  to  her  own  room, 
and  read  the  last  new  tale  of  domestic  interest  —  and 
principle  —  till  sleep  came  to  her  relief. 


152      LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

After  dinner,  Arthur  shot  .out  with  the  retiring  ser- 
vants, and  interred  himself  in  the  study,  where  he  sought 
out  with  care  such  wild  romances  as  give  entirely  false 
views  of  life  —  and  found  them,  "  and  so  shut  up  in 
measureless  content "  —  Macbeth. 

The  seniors  consulted  at  their  ease.  They  both  appre- 
ciated the  painful  phenomenon.  But  they  differed  toto 
ccelo  as  to  the  cause.  Mr.  Fountain  ascribed  it  to  the 
sombre  influence  of  Mrs.  Bazalgette ;  and  miscalled  her 
till  Jane's  hair  stood  on  end :  she  happened  to  be  the 
one  at  the  keyhole  that  night.  Mr.  Talboys  laid  all  the 
blame  on  David  Dodd :  the  discussion  was  vigorous,  and 
occupied  more  than  two  hours,  and  each  party  brought  for- 
ward good  and  plausible  reasons  ;  and,  if  neither  made  any 
progress  towards  converting  the  other,  they  gained  this 
at  least,  that  each  corroborated  himself.  iSTow  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  was  gone :  no  direct  reprisals  on  her  were 
possible.  Kegistering  a  vow  that  one  day  or  other  he 
would  be  even  with  her,  the  senior  consented,  though  not 
very  willingly,  to  co-operate  with  his  friend  against  an 
imaginary  danger.  In  answer  .to  his  remark  that  the 
Dodds  were  never  invited  to  tea  now,  Mr.  Talboys  had 
replied,  "  But  I  find  from  Mr.  Arthur  he  visits  the  house 
every  day  on  the  pretence  of  teaching  him  mathematics  ; 
a  barefaced  pretence,  a  sailor  teach  mathematics  !  "  Mr. 
Fountain  had  much  ado  to  keep  his  temper  at  this  per- 
tinacity in  a  jealous  dream.  He  gulped  his  ire  down, 
however,  and  said  somewhat  sullenly,  "I  really  cannot 
consent  to  send  my  poor  friend's  son  to  the  university 
a  dunce,  and  there  is  no  other  mathematician  near." 

"  If  I  find  you  one,"  said  Talboys,  hastily,  "  will  you 
relieve  Mr.  Dodd  of  his  labors,  and  me  of  his  presence  ?  " 

"  Certainly,"  sighed  the  other.     Poor  David ! 

"  Then  there  is  my  friend  Bramby ;  he  is  a  second 
wrangler  j  he  shall  take  Arthur,  and  keep  him  till  Miss 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  153 

Fountain  leaves  us.  Bramby  will  refuse  me  nothing.  I 
have  a  living  in  iny  gift,  and  the  incumbent  is  eighty- 
eight." 

The  senior  consented  with  a  pitying  smile. 

"Bramby  will  take  him  next  week,"  said  Talboys, 
severely. 

IVIr.  Fountain  nodded  his  head.  It  was  all  the  assent 
he  could  effect ;  and  at  that  moment  there  passed  through 
him  the  sacrilegious  thought,  that  the  Conqueror  must 
have  imported  an  ass  or  two  among  his  other  forces  ;  and 
that  one  of  these,  intermarrying  with  Saxon  blood,  had 
produced  a  mule,  and  that  mule  was  his  friend. 

The  same  uneasy  jealousy,  which  next  week  was  to 
expel  David  from  Font  Abbey,  impelled  Mr.  Talboys  to 
call  the  very  next  day  at  one  o'clock  to  see  what  was 
being  done  under  cover  of  trigonometry.  He  found  Mr. 
and  ]\Iiss  Fovintain  just  sitting  down  to  luncheon.  David 
and  Arthur  were  actually  together  somewhere,  perhaps 
going  through  the  farce  of  geometry.  He  was  half 
vexed  at  finding  no  food  for  his  suspicions.  Presently, 
so  spiteful  is  chance,  the  door  opened,  and  in  marched 
Arthur  and  David. 

"  I  have  made  him  stay  to  luncheon  for  once,"  said 
Arthur ;  "  he  couldn't  refuse  me,  we  are  to  part  so  soon." 
Arthur  got  next  to  Lucy,  and  had  Da\ad  on  his  left. 
Mr.  Talboys  gave  j\[r.  Fountain  a  look,  and  very  soon 
began  to  play  his  battery  upon  David. 

"  How  do  you  naval  officers  find  time  to  learn 
geometry  ?  " 

"  What,  don't  you  know  it  is  a  part  of  our  education. 


sir 


?" 


"  I  never  heard  that  before." 

"That  is  odd;  but  perhaps  you  have  spent  all  your 
life  ashore."  (This  in  commiserating  accents.)  David 
then  politely  explained  to  Mr.  Talboys  that  a  man  who 


154  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

looked  one  day  to  command  a  ship  must  not  only  prac- 
tise seamanship  but  learn  navigation,  and  that  naviga- 
tion was  a  noble  art  founded  on  the  exact  sciences,  as 
well  as  on  jijractical  experiences ;  that  there  did  still 
linger  upon  the  ocean  a  few  of  the  old  captains,  who, 
born  at  a  period  when  a  ship  in  making  a  voyage  used 
to  run  down  her  longitude  first,  and  then  begin  to  make 
her  latitude,  could  handle  a  ship  well  and  keep  her  off  a 
lee  shore  if  they  saiv  it  i7i  time,  but  were  in  truth  hardly 
to  be  trusted  to  take  her  from  port  to  port.  "  We  get  a 
word  with  these  old  salts  now  and  then  when  we  are 
becalmed  alongside,  and  the  questions  they  put  make  us 
quite  feel  for  them.  Then  they  trust  entirely  to  their 
instruments.  They  can  take  an  observation,  but  they 
can't  verify  one.  They  can  tack  her  and  wear  her  (I 
have  seen  them  do  one  Avhen  they  should  have  done  the 
other),  and  they  can  read  the  sky  and  the  water  better 
than  we  young  ones,  and  while  she  floats  they  stick  to 
her,  and  the  greater  the  danger  the  louder  the  oaths  — 
but  that  is  all."  He  then  assured  them  with  modest 
fervor  that  much  more  than  that  was  expected  of  the 
modern  commander,  particularly  in  the  two  capital  arti- 
cles of  exact  science  and  gentlemanly  behavior.  He 
concluded  with  considerable  grace  by  apologizing  for  his 
enthusiastic  view  of  a  profession  that  had  been  too  often 
confounded  with  the  faults  of  its  professors,  faults  that 
were  curable,  and  that  they  would  all,  he  hoped,  live 
long  enough  to  see  cured.  Then  turning  to  jVIiss  fountain 
he  said,  "  And  if  I  began  by  despising  my  business,  and 
taking  a  small  view  of  it,  how  should  I  ever  hold  sticks 
with  my  able  competitors,  who  study  it  with  zeal  and 
admiration  ?  " 

Lxicy.  "I  don't  quite  understand  all  you  have  said, 
Mr.  Dodd,  but  that  last  I  think  is  unanswerable." 

Fountain.     "  I  am  sure  of  it.     As  the  Duke  of  Well- 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   INIE   LONG.  155 

ington  said  the  other  day  in  the  House  of  Lords,  '■  that 
is  a  position  I  defy  any  noble  lord  to  assault  with  suc- 
cess ! '  haw  !  ho  ! " 

Mr.  Talboys  diverted  his  attack.  "  Pray,  sir,"  said  he 
with  a  sneer,  "  may  I  ask,  have  nautical  commanders  a 
particular  taste  for  education  as  well  as  science  ?  " 

"  Not  that  I  know  of.  If  you  mean  me,  I  am  hungry 
to  learn,  and  I  find  few  but  what  can  teach  me  some- 
thing, and  what  little  I  know  I  am  willing  to  impart, 
sir ;  give  and  take  ! " 

"  It  is  the  direction  of  your  teaching  that  seems  to  me 
so  singular.  Mathematics  are  horrible  enough,  and 
greatly  to  be  avoided." 

"  That  is  news  to  me." 

"  On  terra  firm.a  I  mean." 

At  this  opening  of  the  case  Talboys  versus  Newton, 
Arthur  shrugged  his  shoulders  to  Lucy  and  David,  and 
went  swiftly  out  as  from  the  presence  of  an  idiot.  It 
was  abominably  rude.  But  besides  being  ill-natured 
and  a  little  shallow,  Mr.  Talboys  was  drawling  out  his 
words,  and  Arthur  was  sixteen,  candid  epoch,  at  which 
affectation  in  man  or  woman  is  intolerable  to  us;  we 
get  a  little  hardened  to  it  long  before  sixty.  Mr.  Talboys 
bit  his  lip  at  this  boyish  impertinence,  but  he  was  too 
proud  a  man  to  notice  it  otherwise  than  by  quietly  incor- 
porating the  offender  into  his  satire.  "  But  the  enigma 
is  why  you  read  them  with  a  stripling,  of  whose  breed- 
ing we  have  just  had  a  specimen ;  mathematics  with  a 
hob-bade-hoy  ?  Grand  Dieu !  Do  pray  tell  us,  Mr. 
Dodd,  why  you  come  to  Font  Abbey  every  day ;  is  it 
really  to  teach  Master  Orson  mathematics  and  manners  ?  " 

David  did  not  sink  into  the  earth  as  he  was  intended 
to. 

"I  come  to  teach  him  algebra  and  geometry, — what 
little  I  know." 


156  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

''  But  your  motive,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

David  looked  puzzled,  Lucy  uneasy  at  seeing  lier  guest 
badgered. 

"  Ask  INIiss  Fountain  why  she  thinks  I  do  my  best  for 
Arthur  ?  "  said  David,  lowering  his  eyes. 

Talboys  colored  and  looked  at  Fountain. 

"  I  think  it  must  be  out  of  pure  goodness,"  said  Lucy 
sweetly. 

Mr.  Talboys  ignored  her  calmly :  "  Pray  enlighten  us, 
Mr.  Dodd.  Now,  what  is  the  real  reason  you  Avalk  a 
mile  every  day  to  do  mathematics  with  that  interesting 
and  well-behaved  juvenile  ?  " 

"You  are  very  curious,  sir,"  said  David  grimly,  his  ire 
rising  unseen. 

"I  am,  on  this  point." 

"  Well,  since  you  must  be  told  what  most  men  could 
see  without  help,  it  is  —  because  he  is  an  orphan,  and 
because  an  orphan  finds  a  brother  in  every  man  that  is 
worth  the  shoe-leather  he  stands  in  ;  can  ye  read  the 
riddle  now,  ye  lubber  ?  "  And  David  started  up  haughtily, 
and,  with  contempt  and  wrath  on  his  face,  marched 
through  the  open  window  and  joined  his  little  friend  on 
the  lawn,  leaving  Fountain  red  with  anger  and  Talboys 
white. 

The  next  thing  was,  Lucy  rose  and  Avent  quietly  out 
of  the  room  l)y  the  door. 

"It  is  the  last  time  he  shall  set  his  foot  within  my 
door :  provoking  cub  I " 

"You  are  convinced  at  last  that  he  is  a  dangerous 
rival." 

"  A  rival  ?  nonsense  and  stuff !  " 

"  Then  why  was  she  so  agitated  ?  She  went  out  with 
tears  in  her  eyes  :  I  saw  them." 

"  The  poor  girl  was  frightened,  no  doubt.  We  don't 
have  fracas  at  Font  Abbey.     On  this  one  spot  of  earth 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  157 

comfort  reigns,  and  balmy  peace,  and  shall  reign  unruf- 
fled while  I  live.  The  jDassions  are  not  admitted  here, 
sir.  Gracious  heaven  forbid !  I'd  as  soon  see  a  bonfire 
in  the  middle  of  my  dining-room,  as  Jealousy  and  Co." 

"  In  that  case  you  had  better  exclude  the  cause." 

"  The  cause  is  your  imagination,  my  good  friend ;  but 
I  will  give  it  no  handle.  I  will  exclude  David  Dodd 
until  she  has  accepted  you  in  form." 

With  this  understanding  the  friends  parted. 

After  dinner  that  same  day,  Arthur  sat  in  the  drawing- 
room  with  Lucy.  He  Avas  reading :  she  working  placidly. 
She  looked  off  her  work  demurely  at  him  several  times. 
He  was  absorbed  in  a  flighty  romance.  "  I  have  dropped 
my  worsted,  Arthur.     It  is  by  you." 

Arthur  picked  the  ball  up  and  brought  it  her ;  then 
back  to  his  romance,  heart  and  soul.  Another  sidelong 
glance  at  him.  Then,  after  a  long  silence,  "  Your  book 
seems  very  interesting." 

''  I'll  fling  it  against  the  wall  if  it  doesn't  mind,"  was 
the  infuriated  reply.  "  Here  are  two  fools  quarrelling, 
page  after  page,  and  can't  see,  or  won't  see,  what  every- 
body else  can  see,  that  it  is  all  an  absurd  misunderstand- 
ing.   One  word  of  common-sense  would  put  it  all  right." 

"  Then  why  not  put  the  book  down  and  talk  to  me  ?  " 

"  I  can't.  It  won't  let  me.  I  must  see  how  long  the 
two  fools  will  go  on  not  seeing  what  everybody  else 
sees." 

"Will  not  the  number  of  volumes  tell  you  that  ?  " 

"  Signorina,  don't  you  try  to  be  satirical,"  said  the 
sprightly  youth  :  "  you'll  only  make  a  mess  of  it.  What 
is  the  use  dropping  one  drop  of  vinegar  into  such  a 
great  big  honey-pot  ?  " 

"  You  are  a  saucy  boy,"  retorted  Lucy,  in  tones  of 
gentle  approbation. 

A  long  silence. 


158  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  Arthur,  will  you  hold  this  skein  for  me  ?  " 

Arthur  groaned. 

"  Never  mind,  dear.  I  will  try  and  manage  with  a 
chair." 

''  Xo,  you  won't  now  :  there." 

The  victim  was  caught  by  the  hands.  But,  with  fatal 
instinctive  perverseness,  he  sat  in  silent  amazement 
watching  Lucy's  supple  white  hand  disentangling  impos- 
sibilities, instead  of  chattering  as  he  was  intended  to. 
Lucy  gave  a  little  sigh.  Here  was  a  dreadful  business : 
obliged  to  elicit  the  information  she  had  resolved  should 
be  forced  upon  her. 

"By-the-by,  Arthur,"  said  she  carelessly,  "did  Mr. 
Dodd  say  anything  to  you  on  the  lawn  ?  " 

"What  about?" 

"  About  what  was  said  after  you  went  out  so  ru —  so 
suddenly." 

"  No  ;  why  ?  what  w^as  said  ?  Something  about  me  ? 
tell  me." 

"  Oh  no,  dear,  as  Mr.  Dodd  did  not  mention  it,  it  is  not 
worth  while.     You  must  not  move  your  hands,  please." 

"Now,  Lucy,  that  is  too  bad.  It  is  not  fair  to  excite 
one's  curiosity,  and  then  stop  directly." 

"  But  it  is  nothing.  jNIr.  Talboys  teased  Mr.  Dodd  a 
little,  that  is  all ;  and  Mr.  Dodd  was  not  so  patient  as  I 
have  seen  him  on  like  occasions.  There,  you  are  dis- 
entangled at  last." 

"Now,  signorina,  let  us  talk  sense.  Tell  me,  which 
do  you  like  the  best  of  all  the  gentlemen  that  come 
here  ?  " 

"  You,  dear :  only  keep  your  hands  still." 

"  None  of  your  chaff,  Lucy." 

"  Chaff :  what  is  that  ?  " 

"Flattery,  then.  I  hope  it  isn't  that  affected  fool 
Talboys  ;  for  I  hate  him." 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  159 

"  I  cannot  undertake  to  share  your  prejudices,  Mr. 
Arthur." 

"  Then  you  actually  like  him." 

"  I  don't  dislike  him." 

"  Then  I  pity  your  taste,  that  is  all." 

"  Mr.  Talboys  has  many  good  qualities  ;  and  if  he  was 
what  you  describe  him,  Uncle  Fountain  would  not  prize 
him  as  he  does." 

"  There  is  something  in  that,  Lucy ;  but  I  think  my 
guardian  and  you  are  mad  upon  just  that  one  point. 
Talboys,  he  is  a  fool  and  a  snob." 

"  Arthur,"  said  Lucy,  severely,  "  if  you  speak  so  of 
my  uncle's  friends,  you  and  I  shall  quarrel." 

"  You  won't  quarrel  just  now,  if  you  can  help  it." 

"  Won't  I  though  ?  why  not,  pray  ?  " 

"  Because  your  skein  is  not  wound  yet." 

"  Oh,  you  little  black-hearted  thing  ! " 

"  I  know  human  nature,  miss,"  said  the  urchin  pomp- 
ously.    "  I  have  read  Miss  Edgeworth  !  " 

He  then  made  an  appeal  to  her  candor  and  good  sense. 
"  Now  don't  you  see  my  friend  Mr.  Dodd  is  worth  them 
all  put  together  ?  " 

"  I  can't  quite  see  that." 

"  He  is  so  noble,  so  kind,  so  clever." 

"  You  must  own  he  is  a  little  brusque." 

"Never.  And  if  he  is,  that  is  not  like  hurting  peo- 
ple's feelings  on  purpose,  and  saying  nasty,  ill-natured 
things  wrapped  up  in  politeness  that  you  daren't  say  out 
like  a  man,  or  you'd  get  kicked.  He  is  a  gentleman  in- 
side :  that  Talboys  is  only  one  outside ;  but  you  girls 
can't  look  below  the  surface." 

"  We  have  not  read  Miss  Edgeworth.  His  hands  are 
not  so  white  as  Mr.  Talboys'." 

"  Nor  his  liver  either  —  oh,  you  goose  !  which  has  the 
finest  eyes  ?  why,  you  don't  see  such  eyes  as  Mr.  Dodd'a 


160  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

every  day.  They  are  as  large  as  yours,  only  his  are 
dark." 

"  Don't  be  angry,  dear.  Yon  must  admit  his  voice  in 
very  loud." 

"  He  can  make  it  loud ;  hut  it  is  always  low  and  gentle 
w^henever  he  speaks  to  you.  I  have  noticed  that :  so  that 
is  monstrous  ungrateful  of  you." 

"  There,  the  skein  is  wound.     Arthur  !  " 

''  Well  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  great  mind  to  tell  you  something  your 
friend  Mr.  Dodd  said  while  you  were  out  of  the  room ; 
but  no,  you  shall  finish  your  story  first." 

"  No,  no !  hang  the  story." 

"  Ah,  you  only  say  that  out  of  politeness.  I  have 
taken  you  from  it  so  long  already." 

The  impetuous  boy  jumped  up,  seized  the  volumes, 
dashed  out,  and  presently  came  running  back  crying, 
"There,  I  have  throAvn  them  behind  the  bookcase  for 
ever  and  ever.     Now  will  you  tell  me  wdiat  he  said  ?  " 

Lucy  smiled  triumphantly.  She  could  relish  a  bloodless 
victory  over  an  inanimate  rival.  Then  she  said  softly, 
"  Arthur,  what  I  am  going  to  tell  you  is  in  confidence." 

"  I  will  be  torn  in  pieces  before  I  betray  it,"  said  the 
young  chevalier. 

Lucy  smiled  at  his  extravagance,  then  began  again 
very  gravely,  "  Mr.  Talboys,  who,  with  many  good  quali- 
ties, has,  what  shall  I  say,  —  narrow  and  artificial  views 
compared  wdth  your  friend  "  — 

"  Ah !  now  you  are  talking  sense." 

''Then  why  interrupt  me,  dear  —  began  teasing  him 
and  wanting  to  know  the  real  reason  he  comes  here." 

"  The  real  reason  ?     What  did  the  fool  mean  ?  " 

"How  can  I  tell,  Arthur,  any  more  than  you?  Mr. 
Dodd  evidently  thought  that  some  slur  was  meant  on  the 
purity  of  his  friendship  for  you." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  161 

"  Shame  !  shame  !  oh  !  " 

"  I  saw  his  anger  rising ;  for  Mr.  Docld,  though  not 
irritable,  is  passionate  —  at  least  I  think  so.  I  tried  to 
smooth  matters.  But  no  ;  Mr.  Talboys  persisted  in  put- 
ting this  ungenerous  question,  when  all  of  a  sudden  Mr. 
Dodd  burst  out,  '  You  wish  to  know  why  I  love  Arthur  ? 
because  he  is  an  orphan,  and  because  an  orphan  finds  a 
brother  in  every  man  who  is  worth  the  shoe-leather  he 
stands  in.  That  is  all  the  riddle,  you  lubber  ! '  It  was 
terribly  rude ;  but  oh,  Arthur  !  I  must  tell  you  your 
friend  looked  noble  :  he  seemed  to  swell  and  rise  to  a 
giant  as  he  spoke,  and  we  all  felt  such  little  shrimps 
around  him  ;  and  his  lip  trembled,  and  fire  flashed  from 
his  eyes.  How  you  would  have  admired  him  then!  And 
he  swept  out  of  the  room  and  left  us  for  his  little  friend, 
who  is  worthy  of  it  all,  since  he  stands  up  for  him 
against  us  all.  Arthur  !  why,  he  is  crying  !  poor  child  ! 
and  do  you  think  those  words  did  not  go  to  my  heart  as 
well  ?  I  am  an  orphan,  too.  Arthur,  don't  cry,  love ! 
oh!  oh!  oh!" 

Oh,  magic  of  a  word  from  a  great  heart !  such  a 
word,  uncouth  and  simple,  but  hot  from  a  manly  bosom, 
pierced  silk  and  broadcloth,  as  if  they  had  been  cal- 
ico and  fustian,  and  made  a  fashionable  young  lady 
and  a  bold  schoolboy  take  hands  and  cry  together.  But 
such  sweet  tears  dry  quickly  :  they  dry  almost  as  they 
flow. 

"  Hallo ! "  cried  the  mercurial  prince,  "  a  sudden 
thought  strikes  me.  You  kept  running  him  down  a 
minute  ago." 

"  Me  ?  "  said  Liicy,  with  a  look  of  amazement. 

"  "Why,  you  know  you  did :  now  tell  me,  what  was  that 
for  ?  " 

"  To  give  you  the  pleasure  of  defending  him." 

"  Oh.     Hum  ?  —  Lucy,  you  are  not  quite  so  simple  as 


162  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

the  others  think ;  sometimes  I  can't  make  you  out  my- 
self." 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  well,  you  know  what  to  do,  dear." 

"No,  I  don't." 

"  Why,  read  Miss  Edgeworth  over  again." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  163 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Arthur  was  bundled  off  to  a  private  tutor,  and  the 
Dodds  invited  to  Font  Abbey  no  more ;  and  Talboys  dined 
there  three  days  a  week.  So  far,  David  Dodd  was  in  a 
poor  and  miserable  position  compared  with  Talboys,  who 
visited  Lucy  at  pleasure,  and  could  close  the  very  street 
door  against  a  rival,  real  or  imaginary.  But  the  street 
door  is  not  the  door  of  the  heart,  and  David  had  one 
little  advantage  over  his  powerful  antagonist :  it  was  a 
slender  one,  and  he  owed  it  to  a  subtle  source  —  female 
tact.  His  sister  and  ally  had  long  been  aware  of  Tal- 
boys. The  gossip  of  the  village  had  enlightened  her  as 
to  his  visits  and  supposed  pretensions.  She  had  de- 
liberately withheld  this  information  from  her  brother, 
for  she  said  to  herself,  "  Men  always  make  such  fools 
of  themselves  when  they  are  jealous.  No.  David  shan't 
even  know  he  has  got  a  rival :  if  he  did  he  would  be 
wretched  and  live  on  thorns,  and  then  he  would  get  into 
passions  and  either  make  a  fool  of  himself  in  her  eyes, 
or  do  something  rash  and  be  shown  to  the  door."  Thus 
far  Eve,  defending  her  brother.  And  with  this  piece  of 
shrewdness  she  did  a  little  more  for  him  than  she  in- 
tended or  was  conscious  of :  for  Talboys,  either  by  feeble 
calculation  or  instinct  of  petty  rivalry,  constantly  sneered 
at  David  before  Lucy ;  David  never  mentioned  Talboys' 
name  to  her.  Now  superior  ignores,  inferior  detracts. 
Thus  Talboys  lowered  himself  and  rather  elevated 
David :  moreover,  he  counteracted  his  own  strongest 
weapon,  the  street-door.  After  putting  David  out  of 
sight,  this  judicious  rival  could  not  let  him  fade  out  of 


164  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   IVIE   LONG. 

mind  too :  he  found  means  to  stimulate  the  lady's 
memory,  and,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  made  the  absent 
present.  May  all  my  foes  unweave  their  webs  as 
cleverly  !  David  knew  nothing  of  this.  He  saw  him- 
self shut  out  from  Paradise,  and  he  was  sad.  He  felt 
the  loss  of  Arthur,  too.  The  orphan  had  been  medicine 
to  him.  When  a  man  is  absorbed  in  a  hopeless  passion, 
to  be  employed  every  day  in  a  good  action  has  a  magical 
soothing  influence  on  the  racked  heart.  Try  this,  in- 
stead of  suicide,  despairing  lover !  It  is  a  quack 
remedy :  no  M.D.  prescribes  it.  Never  you  mind ;  in 
desperate  ills  a  little  cure  is  Avorth  a  deal  of  etiquette. 
Poor  David  had  lost  this  innocent  comfort,  lost  too  -the 
pleasure  of  going  every  day  to  the  house  she  lived  in. 
To  be  sure,  when  he  used  to  go  he  seldom  caught  a 
glimpse  of  her,  but  he  did  now  and  then,  and  always 
enjoyed  the  hope. 

''  I  see  how  it  is,"  said  he,  to  Eve  one  day ;  "  I  am  not 
welcome  to  the  master  of  the  house.  Well,  he  is  the 
master :  I  shall  not  force  my  way  where  I  am  not  wel- 
come ; "  but  after  these  spirited  words  he  hung  his 
head. 

"  Oh,  nonsense,"  said  Eve.  "  It  isn't  him.  There  are 
mischief-makers  behind." 

"  Ay  ?  just  you  tell  me  who  they  are  !  I'll  teach  them 
to  come  across  my  hawse,"  and  David's  eyes  flashed. 

"Don't  you  be  silly,"  said  Eve,  and  turned  it  off; 
"  and  don't  be  so  down-hearted ;  why,  you  are  not  half  a 
man." 

"  No  more  I  am.  Eve.     What  has  come  to  me  ?  " 

"What  indeed?  just  when  everything  goes  swim- 
mingly." 

"  Eve,  how  can  you  say  so ! " 

"  Why,  David,  she  leaves  this  in  a  few  days  for  Mrs. 
Bazalgette's  house.     You  tell  me  you  have  got  a  warm 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  1G5 

invitation  tliere.  Tlien  make  tlie  play  tliere,  and,  if  you 
can't  win  her,  say  you  don't  deserve  her,  twiddle  your 
thumb  and  see  a  bolder  lover  carry  her  off.  You  foolish 
boy,  she  is  only  a  woman,  she  is  to  be  won.  If  you  don't 
mind,  some  man  will  show  you  it  was  as  easy  as  you 
think  it  is  hard;  timid  wooers  make  a  mountain  of  a 
mole-hill." 

"  Wh}^,  it  is  you  who  have  kept  me  backing  and  filling 
all  this  time,  Eve." 

"  Of  course.  Prudence  at  first  starting ;  but  that  isn't 
to  say  courage  is  never  to  come  in :  first  creep  within 
the  fortification-wall ;  but,  once  inside,  if  you  don't  storm 
the  city  that  minute,  woe  be  unto  you ;  come,  cheer  up  ! 
it  is  only  for  a  few  days,  and  then  she  goes  where  you 
will  have  her  all  to  yourself ;  besides,  you  shall  have  one 
sweet  delicious  evening  Avith  her  all  alone  before  she 
goes.  What,  have  you  forgotten  the  pedigree  ?  Wasn't 
I  right  to  keep  that  back  ?  and  now  march  and  take  a 
good  long  walk." 

Her  tongue  was  a  spur :  it  made  David's  drooping 
manhood  rear  and  prance  —  a  trumpet  and  pealed  victory 
to  come.  David  kissed  her  warmly,  and  strode  away 
radiant.     She  looked  sadly  after  him. 

She  had  never  spoken  so  hopefully,  so  encouragingly. 
The  reason  will  startle  such  of  my  readers  as  have  not 
taken  the  trouble  to  comprehend  her.  It  was  that  she 
had  never  so  thoroughly  desponded ;  such  was  Eve ; 
when  matters  went  smoothly,  she  itched  to  torment  and 
take  the  gloss  off  David;  but  now  the  affair  looked 
really  desperate ;  so  it  would  have  been  unkind  not  to 
sustain  him  with  all  her  soul.  The  cause  of  her  despond- 
ency and  consequent  cheerfulness,  shall  now  be  briefly 
related.  Scarce  an  hour  ago  she  had  met  Miss  Fountain 
in  the  village  and  accompanied  her  home.  For  David's 
sake  she  had  diverted  the  conversation  by  easy  degrees 


166  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ISIE  LOKG. 

to  the  subject  of  marriage,  in  order  to  sound  Miss  Foun- 
tain. "  You  would  never  give  your  hand  without  your 
heart,  I  am  sure." 

"  Heaven  forbid,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Not  even  to  a  coronet  ?  " 

"  Not  even  to  a  crown." 

So  far  so  good,  bit  Miss  Fountain  went  on  to  say  that 
the  heart  was  not  the  only  thing  to  be  consulted  in  a 
matter  so  important  as  marriage. 

"  It  is  the  only  thing  I  would  ever  consult,"  said  Eve. 
As  Lucy  did  not  reply.  Eve  asked  her  next  what  she 
would  do  if  she  loved  a  poor  man  ?  Lucy  replied  coldly, 
that  it  was  not  her  present  intention  to  love  anybody  but 
her  relations ;  that  she  should  never  love  any  gentleman 
until  she  had  been  married  to  him,  or,  correcting  herself, 
at  all  events,  been  some  time  engaged  to  him,  and  she 
should  certainly  never  engage  herself  to  any  one  who 
would  not  rather  improve  her  position  in  society  than 
deteriorate  it.  Eve  met  these  pretty  phrases  with  a  look 
of  contempt,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  While  you  speak  I  am 
putting  all  that  into  plain  vulgar  English."  The  other 
did  not  seem  to  notice  it.  "  To  leave  this  interesting 
topic  for  a  while,"  said  she  languidly,  "  let  me  consvilt 
you.  Miss  Dodd.  I  have  not,  as  you  may  have  noticed, 
great  abilities,  but  I  have  received  an  excellent  educa- 
tion. To  say  nothing  of  those  soi-disatit  accomplish- 
ments with  which  we  adorn,  and  sometimes  weary, 
society,  my  dear  mother  had  me  well  grounded  in  lan- 
guages and  history.  Without  being  eloquent  I  have  a 
certain  fluency,  in  which,  they  tell  me,  even  members  of 
parliament  are  deficient,  smoothly  as  their  speeches  read 
made  into  English  by  the  newspapers.  Like  yourself, 
Miss  Dodd,  and  all  our  sex,  I  am  not  destitute  of  tact ; 
and  tact,  you  know,  is  'the  talent  of  talents.'  I  feel," 
here  she  bit  her  lip,  "myself  fit  for  public  life.  I  am 
ambitious." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  167 

"  Oh,  you  are,  are  you  ?  " 

"  Very  ;  and  perhaps  you  will  kindly  tell  me  how  I  had 
best  direct  that  ambition ;  the  army  ?  no ;  marching 
against  daisies,  and  dancing  and  flirting  in  garrison 
towns,  is  frivolous  and  monotonous  too.  It  isn't  as  if 
war  was  raging,  trumpets  ringing  and  squadrons  charg- 
ing. Your  brother's  profession  ?  Not  for  the  world. 
I  am  a  coward  [consistent].  Shall  I  lower  my  preten- 
sions to  the  learned  professions  ?  " 

"  I  don't  doubt  your  cleverness,  but  the  learned  pro- 
fessions ?  " 

''  A  woman  has  a  tongue,  you  know,  and  that  is  their 
grand  requisite.  I  interrupted  you,  Miss  Dodd,  pray 
forgive  me." 

"  Well,  then  let  us  go  through  them.  To  be  a  clergy- 
man, what  is  required  ?  to  preach,  and  visit  the  sick, 
and  feel  for  them,  and  understand  what  passes  in  the 
sorrowful  hearts  of  the  afflicted.  Is  that  beyond  our 
sex  ?  " 

''  That  last  is  far  more  beyond  a  man  at  most  times  ; 
and  oh,  the  discourses  one  has  to  sit  out  in  church ! 
Portia  made  a  very  passable  barrister,  Miss  Dodd." 

"  Oh,  did  she  ?  " 

"  AVhy,  you  know  she  did  ;  and  as  for  medicine,  the 
great  successes  there  are  achieved  by  honeyed  words 
with  a  long  word  thrown  in  here  and  there.  I've  heard 
my  own  mamma  say  so,  —  now  which  shall  I  be  ?  " 

"I  suppose  you  are  making  fun  of  me,"  said  Eve,  "but 
there  is  many  a  true  word  spoken  in  jest.  You  could  be 
a  better  parson,  lawyer,  or  doctor  than  nine  out  of  ten ; 
but  they  won't  let  us ;  they  know  we  could  beat  them 
into  fits  at  anytliing  but  brute  strength  and  wickedness. 
So  they  have  shut  all  those  doors  in  us  poor  girls'  faces." 

"There,  you  see,"  said  Lucy  archly;  "but  two  lines  are 
open  to  our  honorable  ambition,  marriage  and  —  water- 


168  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

colors.  I  thiuk  marriage  the  more  honorable  of  the  two; 
above  all,  it  is  the  more  fashionable.  Can  you  blame  me 
then  if  my  ambition  chooses  the  altar  and  not  the  easel  ?  " 
"  So  that  is  what  you  have  been  bringing  me  to." 
"  You  came  of  your  own  accord,"  was  the  sly  retort. 
"  Let  me  offer  you  some  luncheon." 

"No,  thank  you.  I  could  not  eat  a  morsel  just  now." 
Eve  went  away,  her  bright  little  face  visibly  cast  down. 
It  was  not  INIiss  Fountain's  words  only,  and  that  new  trait 
of  hard  satire,  which  she  had  so  suddenly  produced  from 
her  secret  recesses ;  her  very  tones  were  cynical  and 
worldly  to  Eve's  delicate  sense  of  hearing. 

"  Poor,  poor  David ! "  she  thought,  and  when  she  got 
to  the  door  of  the  room  she  sighed;  and  as  she  went 
home  she  said  more  than  once  to  herself,  "no  more  heart 
than  a  marble  statue.  Oh !  how  true  our  first  thought  is. 
I  come  back  to  mine  "... 

Lucy  (sola).  "  Then  what  right  had  she  to  come  here 
and  try  to  turn  me  inside  out  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    ME   LOl^G.  l69 


CHAPTER  X. 

As  the  hour  of  Lucy's  departure  drew  near,  Mr.  Foun- 
tain became  anxious  to  see  her  betrothed  to  his  friend, 
for  fear  of  accidents.  "  You  had  better  propose  to  her 
in  form,  or  authorize  me  to  do  so,  before  she  goes  to  that 
Mrs.  Bazalgette." 

This  time  it  was  Talboys  that  hung  back.  He  objected 
that  the  time  was  not  opportune.  "  I  make  no  advance," 
said  he ;  "  on  the  contrary,  I  seem  of  late  to  have  lost 
ground  with  your  niece.'' 

"  Oh,  I've  seen  the  sort  of  distance  she  has  put  on.  All 
superficial,  my  dear  sir.  I  read  it  in  your  favor.  I  know 
the  sex ;  they  can't  elude  me.  Pique,  sir,  nothing  on  earth 
but  female  pique.  She  is  bitter  against  us  for  shilly- 
shallying. These  girls  hate  shilly-shally  in  a  man.  They 
are  monopolists,  severe  monopolists.  Shilly-shally  is  one 
of  their  monopolies.  Throw  yourself  at  her  feet,  and 
press  her  with  ardor;  she  Avill  clear  up  directly."  The 
proposed  attitude  did  not  tempt  the  stiff  Talboys.  His 
pride  took  the  alarm. 

''Thank  you,  it  is  a  position  in  which  I  should  not 
care  to  place  myself  unless  I  was  quite  sure  of  not  being 
refused.  iSTo,  I  will  not  risk  my  proposal  while  she  is 
under  the  influence  of  this  Dodd;  he  is,  somehow  or 
other,  the  cause  of  her  coldness  to  me." 

"  Good  heavens !  why,  she  has  been  hermetically 
sealed  against  him  ever  so  long!"  cried  Fountain  al- 
most angrily. 

"I  saw  his  sister  come  out  of  your  gate  only  the  other 
day.     Sisters  are  emissaries ;  dangerous  ones,  too.     Who 


170  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

knows,  her  very  coldness  may  be  vexation  that  this  man 
is  exckided.     Perhaps  she  suspects  me  as  the  cause." 

"  These  are  cliimeras,  wikl  chimeras.  My  niece  cares 
nothing  for  such  people  as  the  Dodds." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  these  low  attachments  are  the 
strongest.     It  is  a  notorious  fact." 

"There  is  no  attachment ;  there  is  nothing  but  civility, 
and  the  affability  of  a  well-bred  superior  to  an  inferior. 
Attachment !  Why,  there  is  not  a  girl  in  Europe  less 
capable  of  marrying  beneath  her,  and  she  is  too  cool  to 
flirt  —  but  with  a  view  to  a  matrimonial  position.  The 
worst  of  it  is,  that  while  you  fear  an  imaginary  danger 
you  are  running  into  a  real  one.  If  we  are  defeated  it 
will  not  be  by  Dodd,  but  by  that  Mrs.  Bazalgette.  Why, 
now  I  think  of  it,  whence  does  Lucy's  coldness  date  ? 
from  that  viper's  visit  to  my  house.  Rely  on  it,  if  we 
are  suffering  from  any  rival  influence,  it  is  that  woman's. 
She  is  a  dangerous  woman,  she  is  a  character  I  detest ; 
she  is  a  schemer." 

"  Am  I  to  understand  that  Mrs.  Bazalgette  has  views 
of  her  own  for  Miss  Fountain  ?  "  inquired  Talboys,  his 
jealousy  half  inclined  to  follow  the  new  lead. 

"In  all  probability." 

"  Oh !  then  it  is  mere  surmise." 

"No,  it  is  not  mere  surmise;  it  is  the  reasonable  con- 
jecture of  a  man  who  knows  her  sex,  and  human  nature, 
and  life.  Since  I  have  my  views,  what  more  likely  than 
that  she  has  hers,  if  only  to  spite  me  ?  Add  to  this  her 
strange  visit  to  Font  Abbey,  and  the  sombre  influence 
she  has  left  behind  And  to  this  woman  Lucy  is  going 
unprotected  by  any  positive  pledge  to  you.  Here  is  the 
true  cause  for  anxiety.  And,  if  you  do  not  share  it 
with  me,  it  must  be  that  you  do  not  care  about  our 
alliance." 

Mr.  Talboys  was  hurt.     •'  Not  care  for  the  alliance  ? 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  171 

It  was  dear  to  him  ;  all  the  dearer  for  the  difficulties. 
He  was  attached  to  Miss  Fountain,  warmly  attached ; 
would  do  anything  for  her,  except  run  the  risk  of  an 
affront  —  a  refusal."  Then  followed  a  long  discussion, 
the  result  of  which  was  that  he  would  not  propose  in 
form  now,  but  ivoiild  give  proofs  of  his  attachment  such 
as  no  lady  could  mistake ;  inter  alia,  he  would  be  sure  to 
spend  the  last  evening  with  her,  and  would  ride  the  first 
stage  with  her  next  day,  squeeze  her  hand  at  parting, 
and  look  unutterable.  And,  as  for  the  formal  proposal, 
that  was  only  postponed  a  week  or  two.  Mr.  Fountain 
was  to  pay  his  visit  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  and  secretly  pre- 
pare Miss  Fountain ;  then  Talboys  would  suddenly  pounce, 
and  —  pop.  The  grandeur  and  boldness  of  this  strategy 
staggered  rather  than  displeased  Mr.  Fountain. 

"  What,  under  her  own  roof  ?  "  and  he  could  not  help 
rubbing  his  hands  with  glee  and  spite,  "  under  her  own 
eye  and  malgre  her  personal  influence  ?  Why,  you  are 
Nap.  I. ! " 

"  She  will  be  quite  out  of  the  way  of  the  Dodds  there," 
said  Talboys  slyly. 

The  senior  groaned.    ("  <Mule  I.,'  I  should  have  said.") 

And  so  they  cut  and  dried  it  all. 

The  last  evening  came,  and  with  it,  just  before  dinner, 
a  line  by  special  messenger  from  Mr.  Talboys.  "He 
could  not  come  that  evening.  His  brother  had  just 
arrived  from  India ;  they  had  not  met  for  seven  years. 
He  could  not  set  him  to  dine  alone." 

After  dinner,  in  the  middle  of  her  uncle's  nap,  in  came 
Lucy,  and,  unheard-of  occurrence,  deed  of  dreadful  note, 
woke  him.  She  was  radiant,  and  held  a  note  from  Eve. 
''Good  news,  uncle  —  those  good  kind  Dodds  !  They  are 
coming  to  tea." 

""S^Tiat?"  and  he  wore  a  look  of  consternation.  Kecol- 
lecting,  however,  that  Talboys  was  not  to  be  there,  he 


172  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

was  indifferent  again.     But  when  he  read  the  note  he 
longed  for  his  self-invited  visitors.     It  ran  thus  :  — 

Dear  Miss  Fouxtaix, — David  has  found  out  the  gene- 
alogy. He  saj's  there  is  no  doubt  you  came  from  the  Fountains 
of  INIelton,  and  he  can  jirove  it.  He  has  proved  it  to  me,  and 
I  am  none  the  wiser.  So,  as  David  is  obliged  to  go  away  to- 
morrow, I  think  the  best  way  is  for  me  to  bring  him  over  with 
the  papers  to-night.  We  will  come  at  eight,  unless  you  have 
comiiany. 

"  He  is  a  worthy  young  man,"  shouted  Mr.  Fountain. 
"  What  o'clock  is  it  ?  " 

"  Very  nearly  eight.  0  uncle !  I  am  so  glad.  How 
pleased  you  will  be  ! " 

The  Dodds  arrived  soon  after,  and  while  tea  was  going 
on  David  spread  his  parchments  on  the  table,  and  sub- 
mitted his  proofs.  He  had  eked  out  the  other  evidence 
by  means  of  a  series  of  leases.  The  three  fields  that 
went  with  Font  Abbey  had  been  let  a  great  numy  times, 
and  the  landlord's  name.  Fountain  in  the  latter  leases, 
was  Fontaine  in  those  of  remoter  date.  David  even 
showed  his  host  the  exact  date  at  which  the  change  of 
orthography  took  place.  "  You  are  a  shrewd  young  gentle- 
man," cried  Mr.  Fountain  gleefully.  David  then  asked 
him  what  were  the  names  of  his  three  meadows.  The 
names  of  them  ?  he  didn't  know  they  had  any. 

"No  names  ?  why,  there  isn't  a  field  in  England  that 
hasn't  its  own  name,  sir.  I  noticed  that  before  I  went 
to  sea."  He  then  told  Mr.  Fountain  the  names  of  his 
three  meadows,  and  curious  names  they  were ;  two  of 
them  were  a  great  deal  older  than  William  the  Conqueror. 
David  wrote  them  on  a  slip  of  paper.  He  then  produced 
a  chart. 

"  What  is  that,  Mr.  David  ?  " 

"  A  map  of  the  Melton  estate,  sir." 


LOVE  ]V[E  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  173 

"  Why,  how  on  earth  did  you  get  that  ?  " 

"  An  okl  shipmate  of  mine  lives  in  that  quarter ;  got 
him  to  make  it  for  me.  Overhaul  it,  sir ;  you  will  find 
the  Melton  estate  has  got  all  your  three  names  within  a 
furlong  of  the  mansion-house." 

"  From  this  you  infer  "  — 

''  That  one  of  that  house  came  here  and  brought  the  e 
along  with  him,  that  has  got  dropped  somehow  since,  and 
being  so  far  from  his  birthplace,  he  thought  he  would 
have  one  or  two  of  the  old  names  about  him.  What  will 
you  bet  me  he  hasn't  shot  more  than  one  brace  of  par- 
tridges on  those  fields  about  INIelton,  when  he  was  a  boy  ? 
So  he  christened  your  three  fields  afresh,  and  the  new 
names  took :  likely  he  made  a  point  of  it  with  the  people 
in  the  village.  For  all  that,  I  have  found  one  old  fellow 
who  stands  out  against  them  to  this  day;  his  name  is 
Newel.  He  Avill  persist  in  calling  the  field  next  to  your 
house  Snap  Witcheloe.  'That  is  what  my  grand-dad 
alius  named  it,'  says  he,  '  and  that  is  the  name  it  went 
by  afore  there  was  ever  a  Fountain  in  this  ere  parish.' 
I  have  looked  in  the  parish  register,  and  I  see  ISTewel's 
grandfather  was  born  in  1690.  Now,  sir,  all  this  is  not 
mathematical  proof;  but  when  you  come  to  add  it  to 
your  own  direct  proofs  that  carry  you  within  a  cable's 
length  of  port  Fontaine,  it  is  very  convincing;  and,  not 
to  pay  out  too  much  yarn,  I'll  bet  —  my  head  —  to  a  china 
orange  "  — 

"  David,  don't  be  vulgar." 

"Never  mind,  Mr.  Dodd;  be  yourself." 

"Well,  then,  to  serve  Eve  out,  I'll  bet  her  head  (and 
that  is  a  better  one  than  mine),  to  a  china  orange,  that 
Fontaine  and  Fountain  are  one,  and  that  the  first  Fon- 
taine came  over  here  from  Melton  more  than  a  hundred 
and  thirty  years  ago,  and  less  than  a  hundred  and  forty, 
when  Newel's  grandfather  was  a  young  man." 


174  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

''  Prohatum  est,"  shouted  old  Fountain,  his  eyes 
sparkling,  his  voice  trembling  with  emotion.  "Miss 
Fontaine,"'  said  he,  turning  to  Lucy,  throwing  a  sort  of 
pompous  respect  into  his  voice  and  manner,  "  you  shall 
never  marry  any  man  that  cannot  give  you  as  good  a 
home  as  Melton,  and  quarter  as  good  a  coat  of  arms  with 
you  as  your  own,  the  Founteyns'."  David's  heart  took  a 
chill,  as  if  an  ice-arrow  had  gone  through  it.  "So  join 
me  to  thank  our  young  friend  here." 

Mr.  Fountain  held  out  his  hand.  David  gave  liis 
mechanically  in  return,  scarcely  knowing  what  he  did. 
"  You  are  a  worthy  and  most  intelligent  young  man,  and 
you  have  made  an  old  man  as  happy  as  a  lord,"  said  the 
old  gentleman,  shaking  him  warmly. 

"  And  there  is  my  hand,  too,"  said  Lucy,  putting  out 
hers  with  a  blush,  "  to  show  you  I  bear  you  no  malice  — 
for  being  more  unselfish  and  more  sagacious  than  us  all." 
Instantly  David's  cold  chill  fled  unreasonably  :  his  cheeks 
burned  with  blushes,  his  eyes  glowed,  his  heart  thumped, 
and  the  delicate,  white,  supple,  warm,  velvet  hand,  that 
nestled  in  his,  shot  electric  tremors  through  his  whole 
frame ;  when  glided,  with  well-bred  noiselessness,  through 
the  open  door  —  Mr.  Talboys  —  and  stood  looking  yellow 
at  that  ardent  group,  and  the  massive  yet  graceful  bare 
arm  stretched  across  the  table,  and  the  Avhite  hand  melt- 
ing into  the  brown  one. 

Whilst  he  stood  staring,  David  looked  up  and  caught 
that  strange,  that  yellow  look.  Instantly  a  light  broke 
in  on  him.  "  So  I  should  look,"  felt  David,  "  if  I  saw 
her  hand  in  his."  He  held  Lucy's  hand  tight  (she 
was  just  beginning  to  withdraw  it),  and  glared  from  his 
seat  on  the  new-comer  like  a  lion  ready  to  spring.  Eve 
read  and  turned  pale ;  she  knew  what  was  in  the  man's 
blood. 

Lucy   now   quietly  withdrew   her   hand,  and    turned 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  175 

with  smiling  composure  towards  the  new-comer,  and  INIr. 
Fountain  thrust  a  minor  anxiety  between  the  passions 
of  the  rivals.  He  rose  hastily  and  went  to  Talboys,  and 
under  cover  of  a  warm  welcome,  took  care  to  let  him 
know  Miss  Dodd  had  been  kind  enough  to  invite  herself 
and  David.  He  then  explained  with  uneasy  animation 
what  David  had  done  for  him. 

Talboys  received  all  this  with  marked  coldness ;  but 
it  gave  him  time  to  recover  his  self-possession.  He  shook 
hands  with  Lucy,  all  but  ignored  David  and  Eve,  and 
quietly  assumed  the  part  of  principal  personage  :  he  then 
spoke  to  Lucy  in  a  voice  tuned  for  the  occasion  to  give 
the  impression  that  confidential  communication  was  not 
unusual  between  him  and  her.  He  apologized,  scarce 
above  a  whisper,  for  not  having  come  to  dinner  on  her 
last  day. 

"  But  after  dinner,"  said  he,  "  my  brother  seemed 
fatigued.  I  treacherously  recommended  bed.  You 
forgive  me  ?  The  nabob  instantly  acted  on  my  selfish 
hint ;  I  mounted  my  horse,  and  me  voila.'"  In  short,  in 
two  minutes  he  had  retaliated  ten-fold  on  David.  As 
for  Lucy,  she  was  a  good  deal  amused  at  this  sudden  public 
assumption  of  a  tenderness  the  gentleman  had  never 
exhibited  in  private  ;  but  a  little  mortified  at  his  parade 
of  mysterious  familiarity ;  still,  for  a  certain  female 
reason,  she  allowed  neither  to  appear,  but  wore  an  air  of 
calm  cordiality,  and  gave  Talboys  his  full  swing. 

David,  seated  sore  against  his  will  at  another  table, 
whither  jMr.  Fountain  removed  him  and  parchments,  on 
pretence  of  inspecting  the  leases,  listened  with  hearing 
preternaturally  keen  —  listened  and  writhed. 

His  back  was  towards  them.  At  last  he  heard  Talboys 
propose  in  murmuring  accents  to  accompany  her  the  first 
stage  of  her  journey.  She  did  not  answer  directly,  and 
that  second  was  an  age  of  anguish  to  poor  David. 


176  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE  ME   LONG. 

When  she  did  answer,  as  if  to  compensate  for  her  hesi- 
tation, she  said  with  alacrity,  "  I  shall  be  delighted ;  it 
■will  vary  the  journey  most  agreeably  ;  I  will  ride  the 
pony  you  were  so  kind  as  to  give  me." 

The  letters  swam  before  David's  eyes. 

Lucy  came  to  the  table,  and  standing  close  behind 
David,  so  close  that  he  felt  her  pure  cool  breath  mingle 
with  his  hair,  said  to  her  uncle,  "  Mr.  Talboys  proposes 
to  me  to  ride  the  first  stage  to-morrow  :  if  I  do,  you  must 
be  of  the  party." 

"  Oh  !  must  I  ?  well,  I'll  roll  after  you  in  my  phaeton." 

At  this  moment.  Eve  could  bear  no  longer  the  anguish 
on  David's  beloved  face.  It  made  her  hysterical,  she 
could  hardly  command  herself;  she  rose  hastily,  and 
saying,  "  We  must  not  keeji  you  up,  the  night  before  a 
journey,"  took  leave  with  David.  As  he  shook  hands 
with  Lucy,  his  imploring  eye  turned  full  on  hers,  and 
sought  to  dive  into  her  heart.  But  that  soft  sapphire 
eye  was  unfathomable ;  it  was  like  those  dark -blue 
southern  Avaters  that  seem  to  reveal  all,  yet  hide  all, 
so  deep  they  are  though  clear. 

Uve.     "  Thank  heaven  we  are  safe  out  of  the  house." 
David.     "  I  have  got  a  rival." 

£Jve.  "  A  pretty  rival :  she  doesn't  care  a  button  for 
him." 

David.     "  He  rides  the  first  stage  with  her." 
Uve.     "  Well,  what  of  that  ?  " 
David.     "  I  have  got  a  rival." 

David  was  none  of  your  lie-a-beds.  He  rose  at  five  in 
summer,  six  in  winter,  and  studied  hard  till  breakfast- 
time.  After  that  he  was  at  every  fool's  service.  This 
morning  he  did  not  appear  at  the  breakfast-table,  and 
the  servant  had  not  seen  him  about.     Eve  ran  up-stairs 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      177 

full  of  auxiety.  He  was  not  in  his  room.  The  bed  had 
not  been  slept  in  :  the  impress  of  his  body  outside  showed, 
however,  that  he  had  flung  himself  down  on  it  to  snatch 
an  uneasy  slumber. 

Eve  sent  the  girl  into  the  village  to  see  if  she  could 
find  him,  or  hear  tidings  of  him.  The  girl  ran  out  with- 
out her  bonnet,  partaking  her  mistress's  anxiety,  but  did 
not  return  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  that  seemed  an  age  to 
Eve.  The  girl  had  lost  some  time  by  going  to  Josh 
Grace  for  information.  Grace's  house  stood  in  an 
orchard ;  so  he  was  the  unlikeliest  man  in  the  village  to 
have  seen  David.  She  set  against  this  trivial  circum- 
stance the  weighty  one  that  he  was  her  sweetheart,  and 
went  to  him  first. 

"  I  han't  a-sin  him.  Sue  ;  thee  hadst  better  ask  at  the 
blacksmith's  shop,"  said  Joshua  Grace. 

Susan  profited  by  this  hint,  and  learned  at  the  black- 
smith's shop,  that  David  had  gone  by  up  the  road  about 
six  in  the  morning,  walking  very  fast.  She  brought  the 
news  to  Eve. 

''  Tov/ards  Royston  ?  " 

"Yes,  miss,  but  la  !  he  won't  ever  think  to  go  all  the 
way  to  Eo3"ston,  —  without  his  breakfast." 

"That  will  do,  Susan.  I  think  I  know  what  he  is 
gone  for." 

On  the  servant  retiring,  her  assumed  firmness  left  her. 

"  On  the  road  she  is  to  travel !  and  his  rival  with  her. 
"V\^lat  mad  act  is  he  going  to  do  ?  Heaven  have  mercy 
on  him,  and  me,  and  her ! " 

Eve  knew  what  was  in  the  man's  blood.  She  sat 
trembling  at  home  till  she  could  bear  it  no  longer :  she 
put  on  her  bonnet  and  sallied  out  on  the  road  to  Royston, 
determined  to  stop  the  carriage,  profess  to  have  business 
at  Royston,  and  take  a  seat  beside  Mr.  Fountain.  She 
felt  that  the  very  sight  of  her  might  prevent  David  from 


178  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

committing  any  great  rashness  or  folly.  On  reaching 
the  high  road,  she  observed  a  fresh  track  of  narrow- 
wheels  that  her  rustic  experience  told  her  could  only  be 
those  of  a  four-wheeled  carriage  ;  and,  making  inquiries, 
she  found  she  was  too  late :  carriage  and  riders  had  gone 
on  before. 

Her  heart  sank.  Too  late  by  a  few  minutes ;  but 
somehow  she  could  not  turn  back  :  she  walked  as  fast  as 
she  could  after  the  gay  cavalcade,  a  prey  to  one  of  those 
female  anxieties  we  have  all  laughed  at  as  extravagant, 
proved  unreasonable,  and  sometimes  found  prophetic. 

Meantime  Lucy  and  Mr.  Talboys  cantered  gayly  along. 
Mr.  Fountain  rolled  after  in  a  phaeton  :  the  travelling- 
carriage  came  last.  Lucy  was  in  spirits  :  motion  enlivens 
us  all,  but  especially  such  of  us  as  are  women.  She  had 
also  another  cause  for  cheerfulness,  that  may  perhaps 
transpire.  Her  two  companions  and  unconscious  depend- 
ents Avere  governed  by  her  mood :  she  made  them  larks 
to-day,  as  she  had  owls  for  some  weeks  past,  last  night 
excepted.  She  would  fall  back  every  now  and  then  and 
let  Uncle  Fountain  pass  her ;  then  come  dashing  up  to 
him,  and  either  pull  up  short  with  a  piece  of  solemn 
information  like  an  aide-de-camp  from  headquarters,  or 
pass  him  shooting  a  shaft  of  raillery  back  into  his  chariot, 
wdiereat  he  would  rise  with  mock  fury  and  yell  a  repartee 
after  her.  Fountain  found  himself  good  company,  — 
Talboys  himself.  It  was  not  the  lady :  oh,  dear  no !  it 
never  is. 

At  last  all  seemed  so  bright,  and  Mr.  Talboys  found 
himself  so  agreeable,  that  he  suddenly  recalled  his  high 
resolve  not  to  pop  in  a  county  desecrated  by  Dodds.  "I'll 
risk  it  now,"  said  he,  and  he  rode  back  to  Fountain  and 
imparted  his  intention,  and  the  senior  nearly  bounded 
off  his  seat ;  he  sounded  the  charge  in  a  stage  whisper, 
because  of  the  coachman,  —  "  At  her  at  once  !  " 


LOVE  IVIE   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LOKG.  179 

"  Secret  conference  ?  hum  !  "  said  Lucy,  twisting  her 
pony,  and  looking  slyly  back. 

Mr.  Talboys  rejoined  her,  and  after  a  Avliile  began  in 
strange,  melodious  accents,  "  You  will  leave  a  blank  "  — 

"  Shall  we  canter  ?  "  said  Lucy,  gayly ;  and  off  went 
the  pony.  Talboys  followed,  and  at  the  next  hill  resumed 
the  sentimental  cadence, 

"  You  will  leave  a  sad  blank  here,  Miss  Fountain." 

"  Ko  greater  than  I  found,"  replied  the  lady,  innocent- 
ly (?).  "  Oh,  dear !  "  she  cried,  with  sudden  interest,  "  I 
am  afraid  I  have  dropped  my  comb."  She  felt  under 
her  hat.  [No,  viper  !  you  have  not  dropped  your  comb, 
but  you  are  feeling  for  a  large  black  pin  with  a  head  to 
it :  there,  you  have  found  it,  and  taken  it  out  of  your 
hair,  and  got  it  hid  in  your  hand  —  what  is  that  for  ?] 

"  Ten  times  greater,"  moaned  the  honeyed  Talboys  : 
*'  for  then  we  had  not  seen  you.  Ah !  my  dear  Miss 
Fountain  —  the  devil !  wo-ho,  Goliah  !  " 

For  the  pony  spilt  the  treacle.  He  lashed  out  both 
heels  with  a  squeak  of  amazement  within  an  inch  of  Mr. 
Talboys'  horse,  Avho  instantly  began  to  rear,  and  plunge, 
and  snort.  While  Talboys,  an  excellent  horseman,  was 
calming  his  steed,  Lucy  was  condoling  with  hers.  "  Dear 
little  naughty  fellow  !  "  said  she,  patting  him.  ["I  did  it 
too  hard."] 

"  As  I  was  saying,  the  blessing  we  have  never  enjoyed, 
we  do  not  miss ;  but  now  that  you  have  shone  upon  us, 
what  can  reconcile  us  to  lose  you,  unless  it  be  the  hope 
that hallo  !  " 

Lucy.     "  Ah  !  " 

The  pony  was  off  with  a  bound  like  a  buck.  She 
had  found  out  the  right  depth  of  pin  this  time.  "Ah! 
where  is  my  whip  ?  I  have  dropped  it :  how  careless." 
Then  they  had  to  ride  back  .for  the  whip,  and  by  this 
means  joined  Mr.  Fountain.     Lucy  rode  by  his  side,  and 


180  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

got  the  carriage  between  her  and  lier  beau.  By  this 
phm  she  not  only  evaded  sentiment,  but  matured  by  a 
series  of  secret  trials  her  skill  Avith  her  weapon.  Armed 
with  this  new  science  she  issued  forth,  and  whenever 
Mr.  Talboys  left  off  indifferent  remarks  and  sounded 
her  affections,  she  probed  the  pony,  and  he  kicked  or 
bolted  as  the  case  might  require. 

"  Confound  that  pony,"  cried  Talboys  ;  "  he  used  to  be 
quiet  enough." 

"  Oh,  don't  scold  him,  dear  playful  little  love.  He 
carries  me  like  a  wave." 

At  this  simple  sentence,  Tall)oys'  dormant  jealousy 
contrived  to  revive.  He  turned  sulky,  and  would  not 
waste  any  more  tenderness,  and  presently  they  rattled 
over  the  stones  of  Eoyston.  Lucy  commended  her  pony 
with  peculiar  earnestness  to  the  ostler.  "Pray  groom 
him  well  and  feed  him  well,  sir;  he  is  a  love."  The 
ostler  swore  he  would  not  wrong  her  ladyship's  nag  for 
the  Avorld. 

Lucy  then  expressed  her  desire  to  go  forward  without 
delay.  "Aunt  will  expect  me."  She  took  her  seat  in 
the  carriage,  bade  a  kind  farewell  to  both  the  gentlemen 
now  that  no  tender  answer  was  possible,  and  was  whirled 
away. 

Thus  the  coy  virgin  eluded  the  pair. 

Now  her  manner  in  taking  leave  of  Talboys  was  so 
kind,  so  smiling  (in  the  SAveet  consciousness  of  having 
baffled  him),  that  Fountain  felt  sure  it  all  had  gone 
smoothly.     They  were  engaged. 

"Well  ?  "  he  cried,  Avith  great  animation. 

"No,"  AA^as  the  despondent  reply. 

"  Eefused  ?  "  screeched  the  other  ;  "  impossible  ! " 

"  No,  thank  you,"  was  the  haughty  reply. 

"What,  then  ?  did  j'ou  .change  your  mind,  didn't  you 
propose  after  all  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  181 

"I  couldn't.     That pony  wouldn't  keep  still !  " 

Fountain  groaned. 

Lucy,  left  to  herself,  gave  a  little  sigh  of  relief.  She 
had  been  playing  a  part  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours. 
Her  cordiality  with  Mr.  Talboys  naturally  misled  Eve 
and  David,  and  perhaps  a  male  reader  or  two.  Shall  I 
give  the  clew  ?  it  may  be  useful  to  you  young  gentlemen. 
Well,  then,  her  sex  are  compounders.  Accustomed  from 
childhood  never  to  have  anything  entirely  their  own  way, 
they  are  content  to  give  and  take.  And  these  terms  once 
accepted,  it  is  a  point  of  honor  and  tact  with  them  not 
to  let  a  creature  see  the  irksome  part  of  the  bargain  is 
not  as  delicious  as  the  other  —  one  coat  of  their  own 
varnish  goes  over  the  smooth  and  the  rough,  the  bitter 
and  the  sweet. 

Now  Lucy,  besides  being  singularly  polite  and  kind, 
^2^'s,  feinme  jusqxC au  hout  des  ongles.  If  her  instincts  had 
been  reasons,  and  her  vague  thoughts  could  have  been 
rej^resented  by  anything  so  definite  as  words,  the  result 
might  have  appeared  thus  : 

"A  few  short  hours,  and  you  can  bore  nie  no  more, 
Mr.  Talboys.  Now  what  must  I  do  for  you  in  return  ? 
Seem  not  to  he  hored  to-day  ?  mais  c'est  la  moindre  des 
choses.  Seem  to  be  2Jl<i(ised  icith  your  society  ?  Why 
not  ?  it  is  only  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  my  seeming  to 
like  it  will  not  prolong  it.  My  heart  swells  with  happi- 
ness at  the  thought  of  escaping  from  you,  good  bore  !  you 
shall  share  my  happiness,  good  bore.  It  is  so  kind  of 
you  not  to  bore  me  to  all  eternity." 

This  was  why  the  last  night  she  sat  like  Patience  on 
an  ottoman  smiling  on  Talboys,  and  racking  David's 
heart.  And  this  was  why  she  made  the  ride  so  pleasant 
to  those  she  was  at  heart  glad  to  leave,  till  they  tried 
sentiment  on,  and  then  she  was  an  eel  directly,  pony 
and  all. 


182  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

Lucy  (sola).  "That  is  over.  Poor  Mr.  Talboys! 
Does  lie  fancy  he  has  an  attachment  ?  No ;  I  please 
and  I  am  courted  wherever  I  go,  hut  I  have  never  been 
loved.  If  a  man  loved  me,  I  should  see  it  in  his  face  :  I 
should  feel  it  without  a  word  spoken.  Once  or  twice 
I  fancied  I  saw  it  in  one  man's  eyes  ;  they  seemed  like 
a  lion's  that  turned  to  a  dove's  as  they  looked  at  me." 
Lucy  closed  her  own  eyes,  and  recalled  her  impression : 
''  It  must  have  been  fancy  :  ought  I  to  wish  to  inspire 
such  a  passion  as  others  have  inspired  ?  No  !  for  I  could 
never  return  it.  The  very  language  of  passion  in 
romances  seems  so  extravagant  to  me.  Yet  so  beautiful. 
It  is  hard  I  should  not  be  loved  merely  because  I  cannot 
love.  Many  such  natures  have  been  adored.  I  could 
not  bear  to  die,  and  not  be  loved  as  deeply  as  ever  woman 
was  loved.  I  must  be  loved,  adored,  worshipped :  it 
would  be  so  sweet  —  sweet !  "  She  slowly  closed  her 
eyes,  and  the  long,  lovely  lashes  drooped,  and  a  celestial 
smile  parted  her  lips  as  she  fell  into  a  vague,  delicious 
reverie.  Suddenly  the  carriage  stopped  at  the  foot  of 
a  hill.  She  opened  her  eyes,  and  there  stood  David 
Dodd  at  the  carriage  window. 

Lucy  put  her  head  out.  "  Why,  it  is  Mr.  Dodd.  Oh, 
Mr.  Dodd,  is  there  anything  the  matter  ?  " 

"  No." 

"You  look  so  pale." 

"  Do  I  ?  "  and  he  flushed  faintly. 

"Which  way  are  you  going  ?  " 

"  I  am  going  home  again  now,"  said  David,  sorrowfully. 

"  You  came  all  this  way  to  bid  me  good-by  ?  "  and  she 
arched  her  eyebrows  and  laughed,  —  a  little  uneasily. 

"It  didn't  seem  a  step.  It  will  seem  longer  going 
back." 

"  No,  no  ;  you  shall  ride  back :  my  pony  is  at  the 
White  Horse  ;  will  you  not  ride  my  pony  back  for  me  ? 


'■f^'^V  .'A, 


# 


^ 


^^hM 


y      ;^ 


X 


THE   CARRIAGE   WENT   ON,    AND   LEFT   HIM   STANDING   IN   THE    ROAD. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  183 

then  I  shall  know  he  will  be  kindly  used ;  a  stranger 
would  whip  him." 

"  I  should  think  my  arm  would  wither  if  I  ill-used 
him." 

"  You  are  very  good.  I  suppose  it  is  because  you  are 
so  brave." 

"  Me  brave  ?  I  don't  feel  so.  Am  I  to  tell  him  to 
drive  on  ? "  and  he  looked  at  her  with  haggard  and 
imploring  eyes. 

Her  eyes  fell  before  his. 

"  Good-by,  then,"  said  she. 

He  cried  with  a  choking  voice  to  the  postilion,  "  Go 
ahead." 

The  carriage  went  on,  and  left  him  standing  in  tlie 
road,  his  head  upon  his  breast. 

At  the  steepest  part  of  the  hill  a  trace  broke,  and  the 
driver  drew  the  carriage  across  the  hill,  and  shouted  to 
David.  He  came  running  up,  and  put  a  large  stone 
behind  each  wheel. 

Lucy  was  alarmed.     ''  Mr.  Dodd,  let  me  out ! " 

He  handed  her  out.  The  post-boy  was  at  a  non-j^lus, 
but  David  whipped  a  piece  of  cord  and  a  knife  out  of 
his  pocket,  and  began,  with  great  rapidity  and  dexterity, 
to  splice  the  trace. 

"  Ah  !  now  you  are  pleased,  Mr.  Dodd ;  our  misfortune 
will  elicit  your  skill  in  emergencies." 

"  Oh,  no !  it  isn't  that :  it  is  —  I  never  hoped  to  see 
you  again  so  soon." 

Lucy  colored,  and  her  eyes  sought  the  ground :  the 
splice  was  soon  made. 

"  There,"  said  David,  ''  I  could  have  spent  an  hour  over 
it;  but  you  would  have  been  vexed,  and  the  bitter 
moment  must  have  come  at  last." 

"  God  bless  you,  Miss  Fountain  —  oh  !  mayn't  I  say 
Miss  Lucy  to-day  ?  "  he  cried  imploringly. 


184  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Of  course  you  may,"  said  Lucy,  the  tears  rising  in 
her  eyes  at  his  sad  face  and  beseeching  look.  "  Oh,  Mr. 
Dodd,  parting  with  those  we  esteem  is  always  sad  enough ; 
I  got  away  from  the  door  without  crying — for  once; 
don't  ]/ou  make  me  cry  ! " 

"  Make  you  cry  ? "  cried  David,  as  if  he  had  been 
suspected  of  sacrilege.  "  God  forbid  !  "  He  muttered 
in  a  choking  voice,  "  You  give  the  word  of  command,  for 
I  can't." 

"  You  can  go  on,"  said  her  soft,  clear  voice  :  but  first 
she  gave  David  her  hand  with  a  gentle  look,  —  "  good- 
by." 

But  David  could  not  speak  to  her ;  he  held  her  hand 
tight  in  both  his  powerful  hands :  they  seemed  iron  to 
her,  shaking,  trembling,  grasping  iron.  The  carriage 
went  slowly  on,  and  drew  her  hand  away.  She  shrank 
into  a  corner  of  the  carriage  :  he  frightened  her. 

He  followed  the  carriage  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  then 
sat  down  upon  a  lieaj)  of  stones,  and  looked  despairingly 
after  it. 

Meantime  Lucy  put  her  head  in  her  hands  and  blushed, 
though  she  was  all  alone.  "  How  dare  he  forget  the 
distance  between  us  ?  Poor  fellow  !  have  not  I  at  times 
forgotten  it  ?  I  am  Avorse  than  he.  I  lost  my  self- 
possession  ;  I  should  have  checked  his  folly ;  he  knows 
nothing  of  les  convenances.  He  has  hurt  my  hand,  he  is 
so  rough  ;  I  feel  his  clutch  now :  there,  I  thought  so,  it 
is  all  red — poor  fellow  !  Nonsense;  he  is  a  sailor;  he 
knows  nothing  of  the  world  and  its  customs.  Parting 
with  a  pleasant  acquaintance  forever  made  him  a  little 
sad. 

"  He  is  all  nature  ;  he  is  like  nobody  else  :  he  shows 
every  feeling  instead  of  concealing  it,  that  is  all.  He 
has  gone  home,  I  hope."  She  glanced  hastily  back. 
He  was  sitting  on  the   stones,  his   arms  drooping,  his 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  185 

head  bowed,  a  jncture  of  despondency.  She  put  her  face 
in  her  hands  again  and  pondered,  blushing  higher  and 
higher.  Then  the  pale  face  that  had  always  been  ruddy 
before,  the  simple  grief  and  agitation,  the  manly  eye 
that  did  not  know  how  to  weep,  but  was  so  clouded  and 
troubled,  and  wildly  sad;  the  shaking  hands  that  had 
clutched  hers  like  a  drowning  man's  (she  felt  them 
still),  the  quivering  features,  choked  voice,  and  trem- 
bling lip,  —  all  these  recoiled  with  double  force  upon  her 
mind:  they  touched  her  far  more  than  sobs  and  tears 
would  have  done,  her  sex's  ready  signs  of  shallow  grief. 

Two  tears  stole  down  her  cheeks. 

"  If  he  would  but  go  home  and  forget  me  ! "  she  glanced 
hastily  back.  David  was  climbing  up  a  tree,  active  as  a 
cat.  "He  is  like  nobody  else, — he,  he!  Stay,  is  that 
to  see  the  last  of  me  ?  the  very  last  —  poor  soul !  Mad- 
man !  How  will  this  end  ?  What  can  come  of  it  but 
misery  to  him,  remorse  to  me  ? 

"  This  is  love."  She  half-closed  her  eyes  and  smiled  ; 
repeating,  "  This  is  love. 

"  Oh !  how  I  despise  all  the  others,  and  their  feeble 
flatteries ! 

"■  Heaven  forgive  me  my  mad,  my  wicked  wish  I 

"  I  am  beloved. 

"I  am  adored. 

"  I  am  miserable  ! " 

As  soon  as  the  carriage  was  out  of  sight,  David  came 
down  and  hurried  from  the  place.  He  found  the  pony 
at  the  inn.  The  ostler  had  not  even  removed  his 
saddle. 

Methought  that  ostler  did  protest  too  much. 

David  kissed  the  saddle  and  the  pommels,  and  the  bridle 
her  hand  had  lield,  and  led  the  pony  out.  After  walking 
a  mile  or  two  he  mounted  the  ^ouj :  to  sit  in  her  seat, 


186  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME  LONG. 

not  for  ease ;  walking  thirty  miles  was  nothing  to  this 
athlete ;  sticking  on  and  holding  on  with  his  chin  on  his 
knee  was  rather  fatigning. 

Meantime,  Eve  walked  on  till  she  was  four  miles  from 
home.  No  David.  She  sat  down  and  cried  a  little 
space  :  then  on  again.  She  had  just  reached  an  angle  in 
the  road,  when  —  clatter;  clatter!  David  came  canter- 
ing roiuid  with  his  knee  in  his  mouth.  Eve  gave  a 
joyful  scream,  and  up  went  both  her  hands  with  sudden 
delight.  At  the  double  shock  to  his  senses,  the  pony 
thought  his  end  was  come,  and  perhaps  the  world's  :  he 
shied  slap  into  the  hedge  and  stuck  there  —  alone :  for 
his  rider  swaying  violently  the  reverse  way,  the  girths 
burst,  the  saddle  peeled  off  the  pony's  back,  and  David 
sat  grijDping  the  pommel  in  the  middle  of  the  road  at 
Eve's  feet,  looking  up  in  her  face  with  an  uneasy  grin, 
while  dust  arose  around  him  in  a  little  column.  Eve 
screeched,  and  screeched,  and  screeched ;  then  fell  to 
with  a  face  as  red  as  a  turkey-cock's,  and  beat  David 
furiously,  and  hurt  —  her  little  hands. 

David  laughed.  This  incident  did  him  good ;  shook 
him  up  a  bit.  The  pony  grovelled  out  of  the  ditch  and 
cantered  home,  squeaking  at  intervals  and  throAving  his 
heels. 

David  got  up,  twisted  the  side-saddle  on  to  his  square 
shoulders,  and  keeping  it  there  by  holding  the  girths, 
walked  with  Eve  toAvards  Font  Abbey.  She  was  now  a 
little  ashamed  of  her  apprehensions ;  and,  besides,  when 
she  leathered  David,  she  was,  in  her  own  mind,  serving 
him  out  for  both  frights.  At  all  events,  she  did  not 
scold  him,  but  kindly  inquired  his  adventures,  and  he 
told  her  what  he  had  done  and  said,  and  what  Miss 
Fountain  had  said. 

The  account  disappointed  Eve.  ''All  this  is  just  a 
pack  of  nothing,"  said  she.     "  It  is  two  lovers  parting. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  187 

or  it  is  two  common  friendly  acquaintances  ;  all  depends 
on  how  it  was  done,  and  that  you  don't  tell  me."  Then 
she  put  several  subtle  questions  as  to  the  looks  and 
tones  and  manner  of  the  young  lady.  David  could  not 
answer  them :  on  this  she  informed  him  he  was  a  fool. 

"  So  I  begin  to  think,"  said  he. 

"There,  be  quiet,"  said  she,  "and  let  me  think  it 
over." 

"  Ay  !  ay  ! "  said  he. 

Whilst  he  was  being  quiet  and  letting  her  think,  a 
carriage  came  rapidly  up  behind  them,  with  a  horseman 
riding  beside  it,  and  as  the  pedestrians  drew  aside,  an 
ironical  voice  fell  upon  them,  and  the  carriage  and  horse- 
man stopped,  and  floured  them  with  dust. 

Messrs.  Talboys  and  Fountain  took  a  stroll  to  look  at 
the  new  jail  that  was  building  in  Royston,  and  as  they 
returned,  Talboys,  whose  wounded  pride  had  now  fer- 
mented, told  Mr.  Fountain  plainly  that  he  saw  nothing 
for  it  but  to  withdraw  his  pretensions  to  Miss  Fountain. 

"  My  own  feelings  are  not  sufficiently  engaged  for  me 
to  play  the  up-hill  game  of  overcoming  her  disinclina- 
tion." 

"Disinclination?  the  mere  shyness  of  a  modest  girl. 
If  she  was  to  be  'won  unsought,'  she  would  not  be 
worthy  to  be  Mrs.  Talboys." 

"  Her  worth  is  indisputable,"  said  Mr.  Talboys,  "  but 
that  is  no  reason  why  I  should  force  upon  her  my  humble 
claims." 

The  moment  his  friend's  pride  began  to  ape  humility. 
Fountain  saw  the  wound  it  had  received  was  incurable. 
He  sighed  and  was  silent.  Opposition  would  only  have 
set  fire  to  opposition. 

They  went  home  together  in  silence.  On  the  road, 
Talboys  caught  sight  of  a  tall  gentleman  carrying  a  side- 
saddle, and  a  little  lady  walking  beside  him.     He  recog- 


188  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

nized  his  lite  noir  with  a  griin  sinik\  Here  at  least  was 
one  he  had  defeated  and  banished  from  the  fair.  Wliat 
on  earth  was  the  man  doing  ?  Oh,  he  had  been  giving 
his  sister  a  ride  on  a  donkey,  and  they  had  met  with  an 
accident.  Mr.  Talboys  was  in  a  humor  for  revenge  ;  so 
he  pulled  up,  and  in  a  somewhat  bantering  voice  inquired 
Avhere  was  the  steed  ? 

"  Oh,  he  is  in  port  by  now,"  said  David. 

"  Do  you  usually  ease  the  animal  of  that  part  of  his 
burden,  sir  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  David,  sullenly. 

Eve,  who  hated  Mr.  Talboys,  and  saw  through  his 
sneers,  bit  her  lip,  and  colored,  and  kept  silence. 

But  Mr.  Talboys,  unwarned  by  her  flashing  eye,  pro- 
ceeded with  his  ironical  interrogatory,  and  then  it  was 
that  Eve,  reflecting  that  both  these  gentlemen  had  done 
their  worst  against  David,  and  that  henceforth  the 
battlefield  could  never  again  be  Font  Abbey,  decided  for 
revenge.  She  stepped  forward  like  an  airy  sylph  between 
David  and  his  persecutor,  and  said,  with  a  charming 
smile,  "1  will  explain,  sir." 

Mr.  Talboys  bowed,  and  smiled. 

"The  reason  my  brother  carries  this  side-saddle  is, 
that  it  belongs  to  a  charming  young  lady  —  you  have 
some  little  acquaintance  with  her  —  Miss  Fountain." 

"  Miss  Fountain  ? "  cried  Talboys,  in  a  tone  from 
which  all  the  irony  was  driven  out  by  Eve's  coup. 

"  She  begged  David  to  ride  her  pony  home  ;  she  would 
not  trust  him  to  anybody  else." 

"  Oh  ?  "  said  Talboys,  stupefied. 

"Well,  sir,  owing  to  —  to — an  accident,  the  saddle 
came  off,  and  the  pony  ran  home ;  so  then  David  had 
only  her  saddle  to  take  care  of  for  her." 

"  Why,  we  escorted  Miss  Fountain  to  lioyston,  and  we 
never  saw  Mr.  Dodd." 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  189 

"Ay,  but  you  did  not  go  beyond  Eoyston,"  said  Eve, 
with  a  cunning  air. 

"  Beyond  Royston  ?  where  ?  and  what  was  he  doing 
there  ?  did  he  go  all  that  way  to  take  her  orders  about 
her  pony  ?  "  said  Talboys,  bitterly. 

"  Oh,  as  to  that  you  must  excuse  me,  sir,"  cried  Eve, 
with  a  scornful  laugh  ;  "  that  is  being  too  inquisitive : 
good-morning ; "  and  she  carried  David  off  in  triumph. 

The  next  moment,  Mr.  Talboys  spurred  past  her  again, 
followed  by  the  phaeton.     Talboys'  face  was  yellow. 

"i«  langue  cVunefemme  est  son  e/je'e." 

"  Sheer  off  and  repair  damages,  ye  lubber,"  said  David, 
dryly,  "  and  don't  come  under  our  giins  again,  or  we  shall 
blow  you  out  of  the  water  —  hum!  Eve,  wasn't  your 
tongue  a  little  too  long  for  your  teeth  just  now  ? " 

"  Not  an  inch." 

"  She  might  be  vexed  :  it  is  not  for  me  to  speak  of  her 
kindness  to  others." 

"Temper  won't  let  a  body  see  everything.  I'll  tell 
you  what  I  have  done,  too ;  I've  declared  Avar." 

"  Have  you  ?  then  run  the  Jack  up  to  the  mizzen-top, 
and  let  us  fight  it  out." 

"  That  is  the  way  to  look  at  it,  David :  now  don't  you 
speak  to  me  till  we  get  home :  let  me  think." 

At  the  gate  of  Font  Abbey  they  parted,  and  Eve 
went  home.  David  came  to  the  stable-yard,  and  hailed, 
"  Stable  a-hoy  ! "  Out  ran  a  little  bandy-legged  groom. 
"The  craft  has  gone  adrift,"  cried  David,  "but  I've  got 
the  gear  safe :  stow  it  away ; "  and  as  he  spoke  he 
chucked  the  saddle  a  distance  of  some  six  yards  on  to 
the  bandy-legged  groom,  who  instantly  staggered  back, 
and  sank  on  a  little  dunghill,  and  there  sat,  saddled,  with 
two  eyes  like  saucers,  looking  stupefied  surprised  between 
the  pommels. 

"  It  is  you  for  capsizing  in  a  calm,"  remarked  David, 


190  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

with  some  surprise,  and  went  liis  way,  "  Well,  Eve,  have 
you  thought  ?  " 

"  Yes,  David,  I  was  a  little  hasty ;  that  puppy  would 
provoke  a  saint.  After  all  there  is  no  harm  done,  they 
can't  hurt  us  much,  now.  It  is  not  here  the  game  will 
be  played  out.  Now  tell  me,  when  does  your  ship 
sail?" 

"It  wants  just  five  weeks  to  a  day." 

"  Does  she  take  up  her  passengers  at as  usual  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Eve,  yes." 

"And  Mrs.  Bazalgette  lives  within  a  mile  or  two  of 
.  You  have  a  good  excuse  for  accepting  her  invita- 
tion. Stay  your  last  week  in  her  house.  There  will  be 
no  Talboys  to  come  between  you.  Do  all  a  man  can  do 
to  win  her  in  that  week." 

"  I  will" 

"  And  if  she  says  '  no,'  be  man  enough  to  tear  her  out 
of  your  heart." 

"  I  can't  tear  her  out  of  my  heart,  Init  I  will  win  her, 
I  must  win  her.  I  can't  live  without  her.  A  month  to 
wait ! " 

Mr.  Talboys.     "  Well,  sir,  what  do  you  say  now  ?  " 

Mr.  Fountain  (hypocritically).  "  I  say  that  your  saga- 
city was  superior  to  mine  :  forgive  me  if  I  have  brought 
you  into  a  mortifying  collision.  To  be  defeated  by  a 
merchant-sailor  "  —  He  paused  to  see  the  effect  of  his 
poisoned  shaft. 

Talboys.  "But  I  am  not  defeated.  I  will  not  be 
defeated.  It  is  no  longer  a  personal  question.  For  your 
sake,  for  her  sake,  I  must  save  her  from  a  degrading 
connection :  I  will  accompany  you  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette's. 
When  shall  we  go  ?  " 

"Well,  not  immediately,  it  would  look  so  odd.  The 
old  one  would  smell  a  rat  directly.  Suppose  we  say  in 
a  month's  time." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      191 

"Very  well,  I  shall  have  a  clear  stage." 

"  Yes,  and  I  shall  then  use  all  my  influence  with  her. 
Hitherto  I  have  used  none." 

"Thank  you.  Mr.  Dodd  cannot  penetrate  there,  I 
conclude." 

"  Of  course  not." 

"  Then  she  will  be  Mrs.  Talboys." 

"Of  course  she  will." 

Lucy  cried  a  little  over  David's  ardent,  despairing 
passion,  and  his  pale  and  drawn  face.  Her  woman's 
instinct  enabled  her  to  comprehend  in  part  a  passion  she 
was  at  this  period  of  her  life  incapable  of  feeling,  and 
she  pitied  him.  He  was  the  first  of  her  admirers  she 
had  ever  pitied.  She  sighed  a  little,  then  fretted  a 
little,  then  reproached  herself  vaguely.  "  I  must  have 
been  guilty  of  some  imprudence  :  given  some  encourage- 
ment. Have  I  failed  in  womanly  reserve  ?  or  is  it  all 
his  fault  ?  He  is  a  sailor.  Sailors  are  like  nobody  else. 
He  is  so  simple-minded.  He  sees,  no  doubt,  that  he  is 
my  superior  in  all  sterling  qualities,  and  that  makes  him 
forget  the  social  distance  between  him  and  me.  And 
yet,  why  suspect  him  of  audacity  ?  poor  fellow,  he  had 
not  the  courage  to  say  anything  to  me  after  all.  No :  he 
will  go  to  sea,  and  forget  his  folly  before  he  comes 
back."  Then  she  had  a  gust  of  egotism.  It  was  nice 
to  be  loved  ardently  and  by  a  hero,  even  though  that 
hero  was  not  a  gentleman  of  distinction,  scarcely  a  gen- 
tleman at  all.  The  next  moment  she  blushed  at  her 
own  vanity.  Next  she  was  seized  with  a  sense  of  the 
great  indelicacy  and  unpardonable  impropriety  of  letting 
her  mind  run  at  all  upon  a  person  of  the  other  sex ;  and, 
shaking  her  lovely  shoulders,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  away, 
idle  thoughts,"  she  nestled  and  fitted  with  marvellous 
suppleness  into  a  corner  of  the  carriage  ;  and  sank  into 


192  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

a  sweet  sleep,  with  a  red  cheek,  two  wet  eyelashes,  and 
a  half  smile  of  the  most  heavenly  character  imaginable. 
And  so  she  glided  along,  till  at  five  in  the  afternoon  the 
carriage  turned  in  at  Mr.  Bazalgette's  gates.  Lucy  lifted 
her  eyes,  and  there  was  quite  a  little  group  standing  on 
the  steps  to  receive  her,  and  waving  welcome  to  the  uni- 
versal pet.  There  was  Mr.  Bazalgette,  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
and  two  servants ;  and  a  little  in  the  rear  a  tall  stranger 
of  gentleman-like  appearance. 

The  two  ladies  embraced  one  another  so  rapidly  yet  so 
smoothly,  and  so  dove-tailed  and  blended,  that  thf?y 
might  be  said  to  flow  together  and  make  one  in  all  but 
color,  like  the  Saone  and  the  Rhone,  After  half  a  dozen 
kisses  given  and  returned  with  a  spirit  and  rapidity,  from 
which,  if  we  male  spectators  of  these  ardent  encounters 
were  wise,  we  might  slyly  learn  a  lesson,  Aunt  Bazal- 
gette suddenly  darted  her  mouth  at  Lucy's  ear,  and 
whispered  a  few  words  with  an  animation  that  struck 
everybody  present.  Lucy  smiled  in  reply.  After  the 
'•meeting  of  the  muslins,"  Mr.  Bazalgette  shook  hands 
warmly,  and  at  last  Lucy  was  introduced  to  his  friend 
Mr.  Hardie,  who  expressed  in  courteous  terms  his  hopes 
that  her  journey  had  been  a  pleasant  one. 

The  animated  words  Mrs.  Bazalgette  whispered  into 
Lucy's  ear  at  that  moment  of  burning  affection  were  as 
follows : 

"  You  have  had  it  washed." 

Lue7/  (unpacking  her  things  in  her  bedroom).  "  Who 
is  Mr.  Hardie,  dear  ?  " 

"  What !  don't  you  know  ?  Mr.  Hardie  is  the  great 
banker." 

"  Only  a  banker  ?  I  should  have  taken  him  for  some- 
thing far  more  distinguished.  His  manner  is  good. 
There  is  a  suavity  without  feebleness  or  smallness." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  193 

Mrs.  Bazalgette's  eye  flashed,  but  she  answered  with 
apparent  nonchalance,  "  I  am  glad  you  like  him ;  you 
will  take  him  off  my  hands  now  and  then.  He  must  not 
be  neglected ;  Bazalgette  would  murder  us :  apropos, 
remind  me  to  ask  him  to  tell  you  Mr.  Hardie's  story, 
and  how  he  comes  to  be  looked  up  to  like  a  prince  iu 
this  part  of  the  world  though  he  is  only  a  banker  —  with 
only  ten  thousand  a  year." 

"You  make  me  quite  curious,  aunt.  Cannot  you  tell 
me?" 

"  Me  ?  oh,  dear,  no ;  paper  currency  !  foreign  loans  ! 
government  securities !  gold  mines !  ten  per  cents !  Mr. 
Peel !  and  why  one  breaks  and  another  doesn't !  all  that 
is  quite  beyond  me.  Bazalgette  is  your  man ;  I  had  no 
idea  your  mousseline-de-laine  would  have  washed  so 
welL  Why  it  looks  just  out  of  the  shop;  it" —  Come 
away,  reader,  for  Heaven's  sake  ! 


194  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  man  whom  Mr.  Bazalgette  introduced  so  smoothly 
and  off-hand  to  Lucy  Fountain  exercised  a  terrible  influ- 
ence over  her  life,  as  you  will  see  by  and  by.  This 
alone  would  make  it  proper  to  lay  his  antecedents  before 
the  reader.  But  he  lias  independent  claims  to  tliis 
notice,  for  he  is  a  principal  figure  in  my  work.  The 
history  of  this  remarkable  man's  fortunes  is  a  study. 
The  progress  of  his  mind  is  another,  and  its  past  as  well 
as  its  future  are  the  very  corner-stone  of  that  capacious 
story  which  I  am  now  building  brick  by  brick,  after  my 
fashion  where  the  theme  is  large.  I  invite  my  reader, 
therefore,  to  resist  the  natural  repugnance  delicate  minds 
feel  to  the  ring  of  the  precious  metals,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  coming  story  to  accompany  me  into  An  Old 
Bank. 

The  Hardies  were  goldsmiths  in  the  seventeenth 
century ;  and  when  that  business  split,  and  the  dej^osit 
and  bill  of  exchange  business  went  one  way,  and  the 
plate  and  jewels  another,  they  became  bankers  from 
father  to  son.  A  peculiarity  attended  them  :  they  never 
broke,  nor  even  cracked.  Feu  James  Hardie  conducted 
for  many  years  a  smooth,  unostentatious,  and  lucrative 
business.  It  professed  to  be  a  bank  of  deposit  only,  and 
not  of  discount.  Tliis  was  not  strictly  true.  There 
never  was  a  bank  in  creation  that  did  not  discount  under 
the  rose,  when  the  paper  represented  commercial  effects, 
and  the  indorsers  were  customers  and  favorites.  But 
Mr.  Hardie's  main  business  was  in  deposits  bearing  no 
interest.     It  was  of  that  nature  known  as  "the  legiti- 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  195 

mate  banking  business,"  a  title  not,  I  think,  invented  by 
the  customers,  since  it  is  a  system  destitute  of  that  reci- 
procity which  is  the  soul  of  all  just  and  legitimate 
commercial  relations. 

You  shall  lend  me  your  money  gratis,  and  I  will  lend 
it  out  at  interest:  such  is  legitimate  banking  —  in  the 
()])inion  of  bankers. 

This  system,  whose  decay  we  have  seen  and  whose 
death  my  young  readers  are  like  to  see,  flourished  under 
old  Hardie,  green  —  as  the  public  in  whose  pockets  its 
roots  were  buried. 

Country  gentlemen  and  noblemen,  and  tradesmen  well- 
to-do,  left  floating  balances  varying  from  seven,  five, 
three  thousand  pounds,  down  to  a  hundred  or  two,  in  his 
hands.  His  art  consisted  in  keeping  his  countenance, 
absorbing  them  with  the  air  of  a  person  conferring  a 
favor,  and  investing  the  bulk  of  them  in  government 
securities,  which  in  that  day  returned  four  and  five  per 
cent.  As  he  did  not  pay  one  shilling  for  the  use  of  the 
capital,  he  pocketed  the  whole  interest.  A  small  part  of 
the  aggregate  balance  was  not  invested,  but  remained  in 
the  bank  coffers,  as  a  reserve  to  meet  any  accidental 
drain.  It  was  a  point  of  honor  with  the  squires  and 
rectors,  who  shared  their  incomes  with  him  in  a  grateful 
spirit,  never  to  draw  their  balances  down  too  low ;  and, 
more  than  once  in  tins  banker's  career,  a  gentleman  has 
actually  borrowed  money  for  a  month  or  two  of  the  bank 
at  four  per  cent,  rather  than  exhaust  his  deposit ;  or,  in 
other  words,  paid  his  debtor  interest  for  the  temporary 
use  of  his  own  everlasting  property.  Such  capitalists 
are  not  to  be  found  in  our  day  ;  they  may  reappear  at 
the  millennium. 

The  banker  had  three  clerks :  one  a  youth  and  very 
subordinate ;  the  other  two  steady  ohl  men,  at  good 
salaries,  who  knew  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  but  did  nc-t 

G 


19G  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE  ME  LONG. 

chatter  them  out  of  doors,  because  they  were  allowed  to 
talk  about  them  to  their  employer ;  and  this  was  a  vent. 
The  tongue  must  have  a  regular  vent,  or  random  explo- 
sions —  choose  !  Besides  the  above  compliment  paid  to 
years  of  probity  and  experience,  the  ancient  regime 
bound  these  men  to  the  interest  and  person  of  their 
chief  by  other  simple  customs  now  no  more. 

At  each  of  the  four  great  festivals  of  the  church  they 
dined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hardie,  and  were  feasted,  and 
cordially  addressed  as  equals,  though  they  could  not  be 
got  to  reply  in  quite  the  same  tone.  They  were  never 
scorned,  but  a  peculiar  warmth  of  esteem  and  friendship 
was  shown  them  on  these  occasions.  One  reason  was, 
the  old-fangled  banker  himself  aspired  to  no  higher  a 
character  than  that  of  a  man  of  business,  and  were  not 
these  clerks  men  of  business,  good  and  true  ?  his  staff, 
not  his  menials ! 

And  since  I  sneered  just  now  at  avital  simplicity,  let 
me  hasten  to  own  that  here  at  least  it  was  wise,  as  well  as 
just  and  worthy.  Where  men  are  forever  handling  heaps 
of  money,  it  is  prudent  to  fortify  them  doubly  against 
temptation,  with  self-respect,  and  a  sufficient  salary. 

It  is  one  thing  not  to  be  led  into  temptation  (accident 
on  which  half  the  virtue  in  the  world  depends),  another 
to  live  in  it,  and  overcome  it.  And  in  a  bank  it  is  not 
the  conscience  only  that  is  tempted,  but  the  senses ;  piles 
of  glittering  gold,  amiable  as  Hesperian  fruit;  heaps  of 
silver  paper  that  seem  to  whisper  as  they  rustle,  ''think 
how  great  we  are,  yet  see  how  little;"  we  are  fifteen 
thousand  pounds,  yet  we  can  go  into  your  pocket ;  whip 
us  up,  and  westward  ho !  If  you  have  not  courage  for 
that,  at  all  events  wet  your  finger ;  a  dozen  of  us  will 
stick  to  it ;  that  pen  in  your  hand  has  but  to  scratch 
that  book  there,  and  who  Avill  know  ?  Besides,  you  can 
always  put  us  back,  you  know. 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,    LOVE  ME   LOKG.  197 

Hundreds  of  men  take  a  share  in  the  country's  public 
morality,  legislate,  build  churches,  and  live  and  die  re- 
spectable, who  would  be  jail-birds  sooner  or  later  if  their 
sole  income  was  the  pay  of  a  banker's  clerk,  and  their 
eyes  and  hands  and  souls  rubbed  daily  against  hundred- 
pound  notes  as  his  do.  I  tell  you  it  is  a  temptation  of 
forty-devil  power. 

Not  without  reason  then  did  this  ancient  banker  bestow 
some  respect  and  friendship  on  those  who,  tempted  daily, 
brought  their  hands  pure,  Christmas  after  Christmas,  to 
their  master's  table.  Not  without  reason  did  Mrs.  Hardie 
pet  them  like  princes  at  the  great  festivals,  and  always 
send  them  home  in  the  carriage  as  persons  their  enter- 
tainers delighted  to  honor.  Herein  I  suspect  she  looked 
also,  woman-like,  to  their  security :  for  they  were  always 
expected  to  be  solemnly,  not  improperly,  intoxicated  hy 
the  end  of  supper ;  nowise  fuddled,  but  muddled.  For 
the  graceful  superstition  of  the  day  suspected  severe 
sobriety  at  solemnities  as  churlish  and  ungracious. 

The  bank  itself  was  small,  and  grave,  and  a  trifle  dingy, 
and  bustle  there  was  none  in  it :  but  if  the  stream  of 
business  looked  sluggish  and  narrow,  it  was  deep,  and 
quietly  incessant,  and  tended  all  one  way,  to  enrich  the 
proprietor  without  a  farthing  risked. 

Old  Hardie  had  sat  there  forty  years  with  other  peo- 
ple's money  overflowing  into  his  lap  as  it  rolled  deep 
and  steady  through  that  little  counting-house,  when  there 
occurred,  or  rather  recurred,  in  this  nation  a  phenomenon 
which  comes  round  with  some  little  change  of  features, 
in  a  certain  cycle  of  commercial  changes,  as  regularly  as 
the  month  of  March  in  the  year,  or  the  neap  tides,  or  the 
harvest  moon;  and  at  each  visit  takes  the  country  by 
surprise. 


198  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  nation  had  passed  tlirougli  tlie  years  of  exhaustion 
and  depression  that  follow  a  long  war ;  its  health  had  re- 
turned, and  its  elastic  vigor  was  already  reviving,  when 
two  remarkable  harvests  in  succession,  and  an  increased 
trade  with  the  American  continent,  raised  it  to  prosper- 
ity. One  sign  of  vigor,  the  roll  of  capital,  was  wanting ; 
speculation  was  fast  asleep. 

The  government  of  the  day  seems  to  have  observed 
this  with  regret.  A  writer  of  authority  on  the  subject 
says,  that  to  stir  stagnant  enterprise,  they  directed  "  the 
Bank  of  England  to  issue  about  four  millions  in  advances 
to  the  state,  and  in  enlarged  discounts."  I  give  you  the 
man's  Avords  :  they  doubtless  carry  a  signification  to  you, 
though  they  are  jargon  in  a  fog  to  me.  Some  months 
later  the  government  took  a  step  upon  very  different 
motives,  which  incidentally  had  a  powerful  effect  in 
loosening  capital  and  setting  it  in  agitation.  They  re- 
duced to  four  per  cent,  the  navy  five  per  cents.,  a  favor- 
ite national  investment,  which  represented  a  capital  of 
two  hundred  millions.  Now  when  men  have  got  used 
to  five  per  cent,  from  a  certain  quarter,  they  cannot  be 
content  with  four,  particularly  the  small  holders  :  so  this 
reduction  of  the  navy  five  per  cents,  unsettled  several 
thousand  capitalists  and  disposed  them  to  search  for  an 
investment.  A  flattering  one  offered  itself  in  the  nick 
of  time.  Considerable  attention  had  been  drawn  of  late 
to  the  mineral  wealth  of  South  America,  and  one  or  two 
mining  companies  existed,  but  languished  in  the  hands 
of  professed  speculators.     The  public  now  broke  like  a 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  199 

sudden  flood  into  these  hitherto  shiggish  channels  of 
enterprise,  and  u])  Avent  the  shares  to  a  high  premium. 
Almost  contemporaneously  numerous  joint  stock  compa- 
nies were  formed,  and  directed  towards  schemes  of  in- 
ternal industry.  The  small  capitalists  that  had  sold  out 
of  the  navy  five  per  cents,  threw  themselves  into  them 
all,  and  being  botid  fde  speculators  drew  hundreds  in 
their  train.  Adventure,  however,  was  at  first  restrained 
in  some  degree  by  the  state  of  the  currency.  It  was 
low,  and  rested  on  a  singularly  sound  basis.  Mr.  Peel's 
currency  bill  had  been  some  months  in  operation  ;  by 
its  principal  provision,  the  Bank  of  England  was  com- 
pelled on  and  after  a  certain  date  to  pay  gold  for  its 
notes  on  demand.  The  bank,  anticipating  a  consequent 
rush  for  gold,  had  collected  vast  quantities  of  sovereigns, 
the  new  coin  ;  but  the  rush  never  came,  for  a  mighty 
simple  reason :  Gold  is  convenient  in  small  sums,  but  a 
burden  and  a  nuisance  in  large  ones.  It  betrays  its  pres- 
ence, and  invites  robbers ;  it  is  a  bore  to  lug  it  about, 
and  a  fearful  waste  of  golden  time  to  count  it.  Men 
run  upon  gold  only  when  they  have  a  reason  to  distrust 
paper.  But  Mr.  Peel's  bill,  instead  of  damaging  Bank 
of  England  paper,  solidified  it,  and  gave  the  nation  a 
just  and  novel  confidence  in  it.  Thus,  then,  the  large 
hoard  of  gold,  fourteen  to  twenty  millions,  that  the 
caution  of  the  bank  directors  had  accumulated  in  their 
coffers,  remained  vmcalled  for.  But  so  large  an  abstrac- 
tion from  the  specie  of  the  realm  contracted  the  pro- 
vincial circulation.  The  small  business  of  the  country 
moved  in  fetters,  so  low  was  the  metal  currency.  The 
country  bankers  petitioned  government  for  relief,  and 
government  listening  to  representations  that  were,  no 
doubt,  supported  by  facts,  and  backed  by  other  inter- 
ests, tampered  with  the  principle  of  Mr.  Peel's  bill,  and 
allowed  the  country  bankers  to  issue  one-pound  and  two- 


200  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ]VIE   LONG. 

pound  notes  for  eleven  years  to  come.  To  this  step 
there  were  but  six  dissentients  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, so  little  was  its  importance  seen,  or  its  consequence 
foreseen.  This  piece  of  inconsistent  legislation  removed 
one  restraint,  irksome  but  salutary,  from  commercial  en- 
terprise at  a  moment  when  capital  was  showing  some 
signs  of  a  feverish  agitation.  Its  immediate  conse- 
quences were  very  encouraging  to  the  legislator ;  the 
country  bankers  sowed  the  land  broadcast  with  their 
small  paper,  and  this,  for  the  cause  above  adverted  to, 
took,  1^0  tern.,  the  place  of  gold,  and  was  seldom  cashed 
at  all  except  where  silver  was  wanted.  On  this  enlarge- 
ment of  the  currency  the  arms  of  the  nation  seemed 
freed,  enterprise  shot  ahead  unshackled,  and  unwonted 
energy  and  activity  thrilled  in  the  veins  of  the  kingdom. 
The  rise  in  the  prices  of  all  commodities  which  followed, 
inevitable  consequence  of  every  increase  in  the  currency, 
whether  real  or  iictitious,  was,  in  itself,  adverse  to  the 
working  classes  ;  but  the  vast  and  numerous  enterprises 
that  were  undertaken,  some  in  the  country  itself,  some  in 
foreign  parts  to  which  English  workmen  were  conveyed, 
raised  the  price  of  labor  higher  still  in  proportion ;  so  no 
class  was  out  of  the  sun. 

Men's  faces  shone  with  excitement  and  hope.  The 
dormant  hoards  of  misers  crept  out  of  their  napkins  and 
sepulchral  strong  boxes  into  the  warm  air  of  the  golden 
time.  The  mason's  chisel  chirped  all  over  the  kingdom, 
and  the  shipbuilders'  ^  hammers  rang  all  round  the 
coast;  corn  was  plenty,  money  became  a  drug,  labor 
wealth,  and  poverty  and  discontent  vanished  from  the 
face  of  the  land.  Adventure  seemed  all  wings,  and  no 
lumbering  carcass  to  clog  it.  New  joint-stock  companies 
were  started  in  crowds  as  larks  rise  and  darken  the  air 

'  Two  hundred  new  vessels  are  said  to  have  been  laid  on  the  stocks  in  one 
year. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  201 

in  winter ;  ^  hundreds  came  to  nothing,  but  hundreds 
stood,  and  of  these  nearly  all  reached  a  premium,  small 
in  some  cases,  high  in  most,  fabulous  in  some  ;  and  tlie 
ease  with  which  the  first  calls  for  cash  on  the  multitudi- 
nous shares  were  met,  argued  the  vast  resources  that 
had  hitherto  slumbered  in  the  nation  for  want  of  prom- 
ising investments  suited  to  the  variety  of  human  likings 
and  judgments. 

The  mind  can  hardly  conceive  any  species  of  earthly 
enterprise  that  was  not  fitted  with  a  company,  ofteuer 
with  a  dozen,  and  with  fifty  or  sixty  where  the  proposed 
road  to  metal  was  direct.  Of  these  the  mines  of  Mexico 
still  kept  the  front  rank,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of 
European,  Australian,  and  African  ore. 

That  masterpiece  of  fiction,  "the  Prospectus,"  ^diffused 

1  In  two  years  six  hundred  and  twenty-four  new  companies  were  projected. 

2  There  is  a  little  unllcked  anonyinuncule  going  scribbling  about,  whose 
creed  seems  to  be  that  a  little  camel  to  be  known  must  be  examined  and  com- 
pared with  other  quadrupeds;  but  that  the  great  arts  can  be  judged  out  of  the 
depths  of  a  penny-a-liner's  inner  consciousness,  and  to  be  rated  and  ranked 
need  not  be  compared  inter  se.  Applying  the  microscope  to  the  method  of  the 
novelist,  but  diverting  the  glass  from  the  learned  judge's  method  in  biogra- 
phy, the  learned  historian's  method  in  history,  and  the  daily  chronicler's 
method  in  dressing  res  gestce  for  a  journal,  this  little  addle-pate  has  jumped 
to  a  comparative  estimate  not  based  on  comparison :  so  that  all  his  blindfold 
vituperation  of  a  noble  art  is  chimera,  not  reasoning:  it  is,  in  fact,  a  retro- 
grade step  in  science  and  logic.  This  is  to  evade  the  Baconian  method,  hum- 
ble and  wise,  and  crawl  back  to  the  lazy  ;.nd  self-confident  system  of  the 
ancients  that  kept  the  world  dark  so  many  centuries.  It  is  KtipaXonavrcia 
versus  Induction.  "  Kcipa'SojiavTc^a,"  ladies,  is  "divination  by  means  of  an 
ass's  skull."  A  pettifogger's  skull,  however,  will  serve  the  turn,  provided  that 
pettifogger  has  been  bitten  with  an  insane  itch  for  scribbling  about  things  so 
infinitely  above  his  capacity  as  the  fine  arts.  Avoid  this  sordid  dreamer :  and 
follow  in  letters  as  in  science  the  Baconian  method.  Then  you  will  find  that 
all  uninspired  narratives  are  more  or  less  inexact,  and  that  one  and  one  only, 
fiction  proper,  has  the  honesty  to  antidote  its  errors  by  professing  inex.acti- 
tude.  You  will  find  that  the  historian,  biographer,  novelist,  and  chronicler 
are  all  obliged  to  paint  upon  their  data  with  colors  the  imagination  alone  can 
supply,  and  all  do  it  —  alive  or  dead.  You  will  find  that  fiction,  as  distin- 
guished from  neat  mendacity,  has  not  one  form  upon  earth,  but  a  dozen  of 
them;  you  will  find  the  most  habitually,  wilfully,  and  inexcusably  inaccurate, 
with  the  means  of  accuracy  under  its  nose,  is  the  form  of  fiction  called 
"  anonymous  criticism,"  political  and  literary :  the  most  equivocating,  per- 
haps, is  the  "  imaginavit,"  better  known  at  Lincoln's  Inn  as  the  "  affidavit." 


202  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

its  gorgeous  light  far  and  near,  lit  up  the  dark  mine,  and 
showed  the  minerals  shining  and  the  jewels  peeping; 
shone  broad  over  the  smiling  fields,  soon  to  be  ploughed, 
reaped,  and  mowed,  by  machinery ;  and  even  illumined 
the  depths  of  the  sea,  whence  the  buried  treasures  of 
ancient  and  modern  times  were  about  to  be  recovered  by 
the  Diving-Bell  Company. 

"  One  mine  was  announced  with  a  vein  of  ore  as  pure 
and  solid  as  a  tin  flagon." 

In  another  the  prospectus  offered  mixed  advantages. 
The  ore  lay  in  so  romantic  a  situation,  and  so  thick,  that 
the  eye  could  be  regaled  with  a  heavenly  landscape, 
while  the  foot  struck  against  neglected  lumps  of  gold 
weighing  from  two  pounds  to  fifty. 

This  put  the  Bolanos  mine  on  its  mettle,  and  it  an- 
nounced "not  mines,  but  mountains  of  silver."  Here, 
then,  men  might  chip  metal  instead  of  painfully  digging 
it.  With  this  up  went  the  shares  till  they  reached  500 
premium. 

Tlalpuxahua  was  done  at  199  premium. 

£  £ 

Anglo  IMexican        10  paid,  went  to  158  prem. 
United  Mexican        10     "  "     "   155      " 

Colombian  10    "         "     "     82     " 

But  the  Real  del  Monte,  a  mine  of  longer  standing,  on 
which  £70  was  paid  up,  went  to  550  prem.,  and  at  a  later 
period,  for  I  am  not  following  the  actual  sequence  of 
events,  reached  the  enormous  height  of  1350  premium. 

The  prospectus  of  the  Equitable  Loan  Company,  la- 
mented, in  paragraph  one,  the   imposition  practised  on 

In  the  article  of  exaggeration,  the  niiUlest  and  tamest  are,  i)erhaps,  liistory 
and  the  novel,  the  boldest  and  most  sparkling  is  the  advertisement:  but  the 
grandest,  ablest,  most  gorgeous,  and  plausibly  exaggerating,  is  surely  the 
grave  commercial  prospectus,  drawn  up  and  signed  by  potent,  grave  and  rev- 
erend seniors,  who  fear  (iod,  worship  Mammou,  revere  big  wigs  right  or 
Wrong,  and  uever  read  romance)). 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  203 

the  poor ;  and  denounced  the  pawnbrokers'  15  per  cent. 
In  paragraph  four,  it  promised  40  per  cent  to  its  share- 
holders. 

Philanthropy  smiled  in  the  heading,  and  Avarice 
stung  in  the  tail.  No  wonder  a  royal  duke  and  other 
good  names  figured  in  this  concern.  Another  eloquent 
sheet  appealed  to  the  national  dignity.  Should  a  nation 
that  was  just  now  being  intersected  by  forty  canal  com- 
panies, and  lighted  by  thirty  gas  companies,  and  every 
life  in  it  worth  a  button  insured  by  a  score  of  insurance 
companies  —  dwell  in  hovels  ?  Here  was  a  country  that, 
after  long  ruling  the  Sea,  was  now  mining  the  Earth, 
and  employing  her  spoils  nobly,  lending  money  to  every 
nation  and  tribe  that  would  fight  for  constitutional 
liberty.  Should  the  principal  city  of  so  sovereign  a 
nation  be  a  collection  of  dingy  dwellings  made  with 
burnt  clay  ?  Ko !  let  these  perishable  and  ignoble 
materials  give  way,  and  London  be  granite,  or  at  least 
wear  a  granite  front  —  with  which  up  went  the  Eed 
Granite  Company. 

A  railway  was  projected  from  Dover  to  Calais,  but 
the  shares  never  came  into  the  market. 

The  Rhine  Navigation  shares  were  snapped  up  direct- 
ly. The  original  holders  having  no  faith  in  their  own 
paper  sold  large  quantities  directly  for  the  account. 
But  they  had  underrated  the  ardor  of  the  public.  At 
settling  day  the  shares  were  at  28  premium,  and  the 
sellers  found  they  had  made  a  most  original  hedge.  For 
the  "  hedge  "  is  not  a  daring  operation  that  grasps  at 
large  gains :  it  is  a  timid  and  cautious  manoeuvre  whose 
humble  aim  is  to  lower  the  figures  of  possible  loss  or 
gain.  To  be  ruined  by  a  stroke  of  caution  so  shocked 
the  directors'  sense  of  justice,  that  they  forged  new  cou- 
pons in  imitation  of  the  old,  and  tried  to  pass  them  off. 
The   fraud    was    discovered ;    a   committee   sat   on   it- 


204  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  IVIE  LONG. 

Respectables  quaked.  Finally  a  scape-goat  was  put  for- 
ward, and  expelled  tlie  Stock  Exchange,  and  with  that 
the  inquiry  was  hushed.  It  would  have  let  too  much 
daylight  in  on  a  host  of  "  good  names  "  in  the  City  and 
on  Change. 

At  the  same  time  the  country  threw  itself  with  ardor 
into  transatlantic  loans.  This  however  was  an  existing 
speculation  vastly  dilated  at  the  period  we  are  treating, 
but  created  about  five  years  earlier.  Its  antecedent  his- 
tory can  be  despatched  in  a  few  words. 

England  is  said  to  be  governed  by  a  limited  monarchy ; 
but  in  case  of  a  conflict  her  heart  goes  more  with  un- 
limited republic  than  with  genuine  monarchy.  The 
Spanish  colonies  in  South  America  found  this  out,  and 
in  their  long  battle  for  independence  came  to  us  for 
sympathy  and  cash.  They  often  obtained  both  ;  and  in 
one  case  something  more :  we  lent  Chili,  a  million  at  six 
per  cent. ;  but  we  lent  her  ships,  bayonets,  and  Cochrane, 
gratis.  This  last,  a  gallant  and  amphibious  dragoon, 
went  to  work  in  a  style  the  slow  Sj^aniard  was  unpre- 
pared for,  blockaded  the  coast,  overawed  the  royalist 
party,  and  wrenched  the  state  from  the  mother  country 
and  settled  it  a  republic.  One  of  the  first  public  acts  of 
this  Chilian  republic  was  to  borrow  a  million  of  us  to  go 
on  with.  Peru  took  only  half  a  million  at  this  period. 
Colombia,  during  the  protracted  struggle  her  independ- 
ence cost  her,  obtained  a  sort  of  carte  hlanche  loan  from 
us  at  10  per  cent.  We  were  to  deliver  the  stock  in 
munitions  of  war,  as  called  for,  which,  you  will  observe, 
was  selling  our  loan ;  for,  at  the  bottom  of  all  our  ro- 
mance lies  business,  business,  business.  Her  freedom 
secured,  the  new  state  accommodated  us  by  taking  two 
millions  at  five  ]ier  cent,  stock  at  84.  In  all,  about  ten 
millions  nominal  capital,  eight  millions  cash,  crossed  the 
Atlantic  while  we  were  cool ;  but  now  that  Ave  were 


LOVE  ]\rE   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  205 

heated  by  three  hundred  joint  stock  companies,  and  the 
fire  fanned  by  seven  hundred  prospectuses,  fresh  loans 
were  effected  with  a  wider  range  of  territory  and  on  a 
more  important  scale. 

Brazil  now  got      ....  £3,200,000  in  two  loans. 

Colombia 4,7.J0,000 

Peru        1,366,000  in  two  loans. 

Mexico         6,400,000  in  two  loans. 

Buenos  Ayres 1,000,000 

and  Guatemala,  a  state  we  never  heard  of  till  she  wanted 
money,  took  a  million  and  a  half.  Besides  these  there 
were  smaller  loans  lent  not  to  nations  but  to  tribes.  So 
hot  was  our  money  in  our  pockets,  that  we  tried  £200,000 
on  Patagonia.  But  the  savages  could  not  be  got  to  nail 
us  ;  which  was  the  more  to  be  regretted  as  we  might 
have  done  a  good  stroke  with  them ;  could  have  sent  the 
stock  out  in  fishermen's  boots,  cocked  hats,  beads.  Bibles, 
and  army  misfits.  Europe  found  oiit  there  existed  an 
island  overflowing  with  faith  and  overburdened  with 
money ;  she  ran  at  us  for  a  slice  of  the  latter.  We  lent 
Naples  two  millions  and  a  half  at  five  per  cent,  stock  92-|-. 
Portugal  a  million  and  a  half  at  87.  Austria  three  mil- 
lions and  a  half  at  82|-.  Denmark  three  millions  and  a 
half  at  three  per  cent,  stock  75|^.  Then  came  a  honne 
boxiche.  The  subtle  Greek  had  gathered  from  his  western 
visitors  a  notion  of  the  contents  of  Thucydides ;  and  he 
came  to  us  for  sympathy  and  money  to  help  him  shake 
off  the  barbarians  and  their  yoke,  and  save  the  wreck  of 
the  ancient  temples.  The  appeal  was  shrewdly  planned. 
England  reads  Thucydides,  and  skims  Demosthenes, 
though  Greece,  it  is  presumed,  does  not.  The  impres- 
sions of  our  boyhood  fasten  upon  our  hearts,  and  our 
mature  reason  judges  them  like  a  father,  not  like  a 
judge.    To  sweep  the  Tartar  out  of  the  Peloponnese,  and 


206  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

put  in  his  place  a  free  press,  that  should  recall  from  the 
tomb  that  soul  of  freedom  and  revive  by  degrees  that 
tongue  of  music  —  who  can  play  Solomon  when  such  a 
proposal  comes  up  for  judgment  ? 

"  Give  yourself  no  further  concern  about  the  matter," 
said  the  lofty  Burdett  with  a  gentleman-like  wave  of  the 
hand,  "your  country  shall  be  saved." 

"  In  a  few  weeks,"  said  another  statesman,  "  Cochrane 
will  be  at  Constantinople  and  burn  the  port  and  its 
vessels.  Having  thus  disarmed  invasion  he  will  land  in 
the  Morea  and  clear  it  of  the  Turks." 

Greece  borrowed  in  two  loans  £2,800,000  at  five  per 
cent.  Russia  (droll  juxtaposition  I)  drew  up  the  rear. 
She  borrowed  three  millions  and  a  half,  but  upon  far 
more  favorable  terms  than,  with  all  our  romance,  we  ac- 
corded to  "Graeculus  esuriens."  The  Greek  stock  ruled 
from  56j  to  59.  Into  all  these  loans  and  the  multitudi- 
nous mines  and  miscellaneous  enterprises,  gas,  railroad, 
canal,  steam,  dock,  provision,  insurance,  milk,  water, 
building,  washing,  money-lending,  fishing,  lottery,  annui- 
ties, herring-curing,  poppy-oil,  cattle,  Aveaving,  bog-drain- 
ing, street-cleaning,  house-roofing,  old  clothes  exporting, 
steel-making,  starch,  silk-worm,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  companies, 
all  classes  of  the  community  threw  themselves  either  for 
investment,  or  temporary  speculation  on  the  fluctuations 
of  the  share-market.  One  venture  was  ennobled  by  a 
prince  of  the  blood  figuring  as  a  director,  another  was 
sanctified  by  an  archbishop,  hundreds  were  solidified  by 
the  best  mercantile  names  in  the  cities  of  London,  Liver- 
pool, and  Manchester.  Princes,  dukes,  duchesses,  stags, 
footmen,  poets,  philosophers,  divines,  lawyers,  physi- 
cians, maids,  wives,  widows,  tore  into  the  market  and 
choked  the  Exchange  up  so  tight  that  the  brokers  could 
not  get  in  or  out,  and  a  bare  passage  had  to  be  cleared  by 
force  and  fines  through  a  mass  of  velvet,  fustian,  plush, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  207 

silk,  rags,  lace,  and  broadcloth,  that  jostled  and  squeezed 
each  other  in  the  struggle  for  gain.  The  shop-keeper 
flung  down  his  scales  and  off  to  the  share-market ;  the 
merchant  embarked  his  funds  and  his  credit ;  the  clerk 
risked  his  place  and  his  humble  respectability.  High  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  all  hurried  round  the  Exchange  like 
midges  round  a  flaring  gaslight,  and  all  were  to  be  rich 
in  a  day. 

And,  strange  to  say,  all  seemed  to  win  and  none  to 
lose ;  for  nothing  was  at  a  discount  —  except  toil  and 
self-denial,  and  the  patient  industry  that  makes  men 
rich  —  but  not  in  a  day.  One  cold  misgiving  fell.  The 
vast  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  that  Mexico,  mined  by 
English  capital  and  machinery,  was  about  to  pour  into 
our  ports,  would  so  lower  the  price  of  those  metals,  that 
a  heavy  loss  must  fall  on  all  who  held  them  on  a  con- 
siderable scale  at  their  present  values  in  relation  to  corn, 
land,  labor,  and  other  properties  and  commodities. 

"We  must  convert  our  gold,"  was  the  cry.  Others 
more  rash  said,  "  This  is  premature  caution  ;  timidity  ; 
there  is  no  gold  come  over  yet ;  wait  till  you  learn  the 
actual  bulk  of  the  first  metallic  imports."  "  No,  thank 
you,"  replied  the  prudent  ones,  "it  will  be  too  late  then: 
Avhen  once  they  have  touched  our  shores,  the  fall  will  be 
rapid.''  So  they  turned  their  gold,  whose  value  was  so 
precarious,  into  that  unfluctuating  material,  paper.  The 
solitary  fear  was  soon  swallowed  up  in  the  general  con 
fidence.  The  King  congratulated  Parliament,  and  Par- 
liament the  King.  Both  houses  rang  with  trumpet-notes 
of  triumph,  a  few  of  which  still  linger  in  the  memories 
of  living  men. 

1.  "The  cotton  trade  and  iron  trade  were  never  so 
flourishing." 

2.  "The  exports  surpassed  by  millions  the  highest 
figure  recorded  in  history." 


208  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

3.  "The  hum  of  industry  was  heard  throughout  tlie 
fields." 

4.  "  Joy  beamed  in  every  face." 

5.  "  The  country  now  reaped  in  honor  and  repose  all  it 
had  sown  in  courage,  constancy,  and  wisdom." 

6.  "  Our  prosperity  extended  to  all  ranks  of  men,  en- 
hanced by  those  arts  which  minister  to  human  comfort, 
and  those  inventions  by  wldch  man  seems  to  have  ob- 
tained a  mastery  over  nature  through  the  application  of 
her  own  powers." 

But  one  honorable  gentleman  informed  the  Commons 
that  "  distress  had  vanished  from  the  land,"  ^  and,  in 
addressing  the  throne,  acknowledged  a  novel  embarrass- 
ment. "  Such,"  said  he,  "  is  the  general  prosperity  of  the 
country,  that  I  feel  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed ;  whether  to 
give  precedence  to  our  agriculture,  which  is  the  main 
support  of  the  country,  to  our  manufactures,  which  have 
increased  to  an  unexampled  extent,  or  to  our  commerce, 
which  distributes  them  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  finds 
daily  new  outlets  for  their  distribution,  and  new  sources 
of  national  wealth  and  prosperity." 

Our  old  bank  did  not  profit  by  the  golden  shower. 
Mr.  Hardie  was  old,  too,  and  the  cautious  and  steady 
habits  of  forty  years  were  not  to  be  shaken  readily.  He 
declined  shares,  refused  innumerable  discounts  and  loans 
upon  scrip  and  invoices,  and,  in  short,  was  behind  the 
time.  His  bank  came  to  be  denounced  as  a  clog  on  com- 
merce. Two  new  banks  were  set  up  in  the  town  to  oil 
the  wheels  of  adventure  on  which  he  was  a  drag,  and 
Hardie  fell  out  of  the  game. 

He  was  not  so  old  nor  cold  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach 
of  mortification,  and  these  things  stung  him.  One  day 
he  said  fretfully  to  old  Skinner,  "  It  is  hardly  worth  our 
while  to  take  down  the  shutters  now  for  anything  we  do." 

^  "  The  poor  ye  shall  have  always  with  you."  —  Chimerical  Evangelist. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  209 

One  afternoon  two  of  his  best  customers,  who  were 
now  up  to  their  chins  in  shares,  came  and  solicited  a 
heavy  loan  on  their  joint  personal  security.  Hardie 
declined.  The  gentlemen  went  out.  Young  Skinner 
watched  them,  and  told  his  father  they  went  into  the 
new  bank,  stayed  there  a  considerable  time,  and  came 
out  looking  joyous.  Old  Skinner  told  Mr.  Hardie.  The 
old  gentleman  began  at  last  to  doubt  himself  and  his 
system. 

"  The  bank  would  last  my  time,"  said  he,  "  but  I  must 
think  of  my  son.  I  have  seen  many  a  good  business  die 
out  because  the  merchant  could  not  keep  up  with  the 
times  ;  and  here  they  are  inviting  me  to  be  director  in 
two  of  their  companies,  —  good  mercantile  names  below 
me.  It  is  very  flattering.  I'll  write  to  Dick.  It  is  just 
he  should  have  a  voice ;  but,  dear  heart,  at  his  age  we 
know  beforehand  he  will  be  for  galloping  faster  than  the 
rest.     AVell,  his  old  father  is  alive  to  curb  him." 

It  was  always  the  ambition  of  Mr.  Richard  Hardie  to 
be  an  accomplished  financier.  For  some  years  past  he 
had  studied  money  at  home  and  abroad  —  scientifically. 
His  father's  connection  had  gained  him  a  footing  in 
several  large  establishments  abroad,  and  there  he  sat 
and  worked  en  amateur  as  hard  as  a  clerk.  This  zeal  and 
diligence  in  a  young  man  of  independent  means  soon 
established  him  in  the  confidence  of  the  chiefs,  who  told 
him  many  a  secret.  He  was  now  in  a  great  London  bank 
pursuing  similar  studies  practical  and  theoretical. 

He  received  his  father's  letters  sketching  the  rapid 
decline  of  the  bank,  and  finally  a  short  missive  inviting 
him  down  to  consider  an  enlarged  plan  of  business. 
During  the  four  days  that  preceded  the  young  man's 
visit,  more  than  one  application  came  to  Hardie  senior 
for  advances  on  scrip,  cargoes  coming  from  Mexico,  and 
joint  personal  securities  of  good  merchants  that  were  in 
14 


210  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

the  current  ventures.  Old  Hardie  now,  instead  of  refus- 
ing, detained  the  proposals  for  consideration.  Meantime 
he  ordered  five  journals  daily  instead  of  one,  sought  in- 
formation from  every  quarter,  and  looked  into  passing 
events  with  a  favorable  eye.  The  result  was  that  he 
blamed  himself,  and  called  his  past  caution  timidity. 
Mr.  Kichard  Hardie  arrived,  and  was  ushered  into  the 
bank  parlor.  After  the  first  affectionate  greetings,  old 
Skinner  was  called  in,  and  in  a  little  pompous,  good- 
hearted  speech  invited  to  make  one  in  a  solemn  con- 
ference. The  compliment  brought  the  tears  into  the  old 
man's  eyes.  Mr.  Hardie  senior  opened,  showed  by  the 
books  the  rapid  decline  of  business,  pointed  to  the  rise 
of  two  new  banks  owing  to  the  tight  hand  he  had  held 
unseasonably,  then  invited  the  other  two  to  say  whether 
an  enlarged  system  was  not  necessary  to  meet  the  times, 
and  submitted  the  last  proposals  for  loans  and  discounts. 
"  Now,  sir,  let  me  have  your  judgment." 

"  After  my  betters,  sir,"  was  old  Skinner's  reply. 

''Well,  Dick,  have  you  formed  any  opinion  on  this 
matter  ?  " 

"  I  have,  sir." 

"I  am  extremely  glad  of  it,"  said  the  old  gentleman 
very  sincerely,  but  with  a  shade  of  surj^rise ;  "  out  with 
it,  Dick." 

The  young  man  thus  addressed  by  his  father  would 
not  have  conveyed  to  us  the  idea  of  "  Dick."  His  hair 
was  brown,  there  were  no  wrinkles  under  his  eyes,  or 
lines  in  his  cheek,  but  in  his  manner  there  was  no  youth 
whatever.  He  was  tall,  commanding,  grave,  q^iiet,  cold, 
and  even  at  that  age  almost  majestic.  His  first  sentence, 
slow  and  firm,  removed  the  paternal  notion  that  a  cipher 
or  a  juvenile  had  come  to  the  council-table. 

"  First,  sir,  let  me  return  you  my  filial  thanks  for  that 
caution  which  you  seem  to  think  has  been  excessive. 
There  I  beg  respectfully  to  differ  with  you." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  211 

"I  am  glad  of  it,  Dick,  but  now  you  see  it  is  time  to 
relax,  eh  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

The  two  old  men  stared  at  one  another. 

The  senile  youth  proceeded  :  "  That  some  day  or  other 
our  system  Avill  have  to  be  relaxed,  is  probable ;  but  just 
now  all  it  wants  is  —  tightening." 

"Why,  Dick?  Skinner,  the  boy  is  mad.  You  can't 
have  watched  the  signs  of  the  times." 

"  I  have,  sir,  and  looked  beloAV  the  varnish." 

"  To  the  point  then,  Dick.  There  is  a  general  proposal 
to  '  relax  our  system  ' ;  the  boy  uses  good  words,  Skinner, 
don't  he  ?  and  here  are  six  particulars  over  which  you 
can  cast  your  eye.     Hand  them  to  him.  Skinner." 

"I  will  take  things  in  that  order,"  said  Eichard, 
quietly  running  his  eye  over  the  papers.  There  was  a 
moment's  silence.  "  It  is  proposed  to  connect  the  bank 
with  the  speculations  of  the  day." 

"  That  is  not  fairly  stated,  Dick  :  it  is  too  broad.  We 
shall  make  a  selection :  we  won't  go  in  the  stream  above 
ankle  deep." 

"  That  is  a  resolution,  sir,  that  has  been  often  made 
but  never  kept,  for  this  reason :  you  can't  sit  on  dry  land 
and  calculate  the  force  of  the  stream.  It  carries  those 
who  paddle  in  it  off  their  feet,  and  then  they  must  swim 
with  it,  or  sink." 

"  Dick,  for  heaven's  sake,  no  poetry  here." 

"Nay,  sir,"  said  old  Skinner,  "remember  'twas  you 
brought  the  stream  in." 

"  More  fool  I.  'Flow  on  thou  shining  Dick,'  only  the 
more  figures  of  arithmetic,  and  the  fewer  figures  of 
speech,  you  can  give  old  Skinner  and  me,  the  more  weight 
you  will  carry  with  us." 

The  young  man  colored  a  moment,  but  never  lost  his 
ponderous  calmness. 


212  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  I  will  give  you  figures  in  their  turn.  But  we  were 
to  begin  with  the  general  view.  Half  measures  then  are 
no  measures :  they  imply  a  vacillating  judgment ;  they 
are  a  vain  attempt  to  make  a  pound  of  rashness  and  a 
pound  of  timidity  into  two  pounds  of  prudence.  You 
permit  me  that  figure,  sir :  it  comes  from  the  summing- 
book.  The  able  man  of  business  never  fidgets.  He 
keeps  quiet,  or  carries  something  out." 

Old  Skinner  rubbed  his  hands.  "  These  are  wise 
words,  sir." 

"  No,  only  clever  ones.  This  is  book-learning.  It  is 
the  sort  of  wisdom  you  and  I  have  outgrown  these  forty 
years.  Why,  at  his  age  I  was  chock-full  of  maxims. 
They  are  good  things  to  read,  but  act  proverbs,  and  into 
the  Gazette  you  go.  My  faith  in  any  general  position 
has  melted  away  with  the  snow  of  my  seventy  winters." 

"  What,  then,  if  it  was  established  that  all  adders  bite, 
would  you  refuse  to  believe  this  adder  would  bite  you, 
sir  ?  " 

"  Dick,  if  a  single  adder  bit  me,  it  would  go  farther  to 
convince  me  the  next  adder  would  bite  me  too,  than  if 
fifty  young  buffons  told  me  all  adders  bite." 

The  senile  youth  was  disconcerted  for  a  single  moment. 
He  hesitated.  The  keys  that  the  old  man  had  himself 
said  would  unlock  his  judgment  lay  beside  him  on  the 
table ;  he  could  not  help  glancing  slyly  at  them,  but  he 
would  not  use  them  before  their  turn.  His  mind  was 
methodical.  His  Avill  Avas  strong  in  all  things.  He  init 
his  hand  in  his  side  pocket  and  drew  out  a  quantity  of 
papers  neatly  arranged,  tied  and  indorsed. 

The  old  men  instantly  bestowed  a  more  watchful  sort 
of  attention  on  him. 

"This,  gentlemen,  is  a  list  of  the  joint  stock  compa- 
nies created  last  year.  What  do  you  suppose  is  their 
number  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  213 

"Fifty,  I'll  be  bound,  Mr.  Eichard." 

"  More  than  that,  Skinner.     Say  eighty," 

"  Two  hundred  and  forty-three,  gentlemen.  Of  these 
some  were  still-born,  but  the  majority  hold  the  market. 
The  capital  proposed  to  be  subscribed  on  the  sum  total  is 
two  hundred  and  forty-eight  millions." 

"  Pheugh  !  —  Skinner  !  " 

"  The  amount  actually  paid  at  present  (chiefly  in  bank- 
notes) is  stated  at  £43,062,608,  and  the  balance  due  at 
the  end  of  the  year  on  this  set  of  ventures  will  be  £204,- 
987,392,  or  thereabouts.  The  projects  of  this  year  have 
not  been  collected,  but  they  are  on  a  similar  scale.  Full 
a  third  of  the  general  sum  total  is  destined  to  foreign  coun- 
tries, either  in  loans  or  to  work  mines,  etc.,  the  return  for 
which  is  uncertain  and  future.  All  these  must  come  to 
nothing,  and  ruin  the  shareholders  that  way,  or  else  must 
sooner  or  later  be  paid  in  specie,  since  no  foreign  nation 
can  use  our  paper,  but  must  sell  it  to  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land. We  stand  then  pledged  to  burst  like  a  bladder,  or 
to  exjiort  in  a  few  months  thrice  as  much  specie  as  we 
possess.  To  sum  up,  if  the  nation  could  be  sold  to- 
morrow, with  every  brick  that  stands  upon  it,  the  pro- 
ceeds would  not  meet  the  engagements  into  which  these 
joint  stock  companies  have  inveigled  her  in  the  course  of 
twenty  months.  Viewed  then  in  gross  under  the  test 
not  of  poetry  and  prospectus,  but  of  arithmetic,  the 
whole  thing  is  a  bubble." 

"  A  bubble  ?  "  uttered  both  the  seniors  in  one  breath, 
and  almost  in  a  scream. 

"  But  I  am  ready  to  test  it  in  detail.  Let  us  take 
three  main  features, — the  share-market,  the  foreign 
loans,  and  the  inflated  circulation  caused  by  the  provin- 
cial banks.  Why  do  the  public  run  after  shares  ?  Is  it 
in  the  exercise  of  a  healthy  judgment  ?  No :  a  cunning 
bait  has  been  laid  for  human  weakness.     Transferable 


214  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

shares  valued  at  a  liundred  pounds  can  be  secured  and 
paid  for  by  small  instalments  of  five  pounds  or  less.  If 
then  liis  hundred-pound  shares  rise  to  a  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds  each,  the  adventurer  can  sell  at  a  nominal 
profit  of  thirty  per  cent,  but  a  real  profit  of  six  hundred 
per  cent  on  his  actual  investment.  This  intoxicates 
rich  and  poor  alike.  It  enables  the  small  capitalist  to 
operate  on  the  scale  that  belongs,  in  healthy  times,  to  the 
large  capitalist ;  a  beggar  can  now  gamble  like  a  prince  : 
his  farthings  are  accepted  as  counters  for  sovereigns :  but 
this  is  a  distinct  feature  of  all  the  more  gigantic  bub- 
bles recorded.  Here  too,  you  see,  is  illusory  credit  on  a 
vast  scale,  with  its  sure  consequence,  inflated  and  ficti- 
tious values  :  another  bit  of  soap  that  goes  to  every 
bubble  in  history.  Now  for  the  trans-Atlantic  loans.  I 
bring  them  to  a  fair  test.  Judge  nations  as  you  would 
individuals.  If  you  knew  nothing  of  a  man  but  that 
he  had  set  up  a  new  shop,  would  you  lend  him  money  ? 
Then  why  lend  money  to  new  republics,  of  whom  you 
know  nothing  but  that  born  yesterday  they  may  die  to- 
morrow, and  that  they  are  exhausted  by  recent  wars,  and 
that  where  responsibility  is  divided  conscience  is  always 
subdivided  ?  " 

"  Well  said,  Richard,  well  said." 

"  If  a  stranger  offered  you  thirty  per  cent,  v/ould  you 
lend  him  your  money  ?  " 

"No  ;  for  I  should  know  he  didn't  mean  to  pay." 

''  Well,  these  foreign  negotiators  offer  nominally  five 
per  cent,  but,  looking  at  the  price  of  the  stock,  thirty, 
forty,  and  even  fifty  per  cent.  Yet  they  are  not  so  lib- 
eral as  they  appear,  they  coidd  afford  ninety  per  cent ; 
you  understand  me,  gentlemen.  Would  you  lend  to  a 
man  that  came  to  you  under  an  alias  like  a  Newgate 
thief?  Cast  your  eye  over  this  prospectus.  It  is  the 
Poyais  loan.     There  is  no  such  place  as  Poyais." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  215 

"  Good  heavens  !  no  such  place  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  loan  to  an  anonymous  swamp  by  the  Mosquito 
Kiver.  But  Mosquito  suggests  a  bite.  So  the  vagabonds 
that  brought  the  proposal  over  put  their  heads  together 
as  they  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  christened  the  place 
Poyais ;  and  now  fools,  that  are  not  fools  enough  to  lend 
sixpence  to  Zahara,  are  going  to  lend  two  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  to  rushes  and  reeds." 

''  Why,  Richard,  what  are  you  talking  about  ?  '  The 
air  is  soft  and  balmy ;  the  climate  fructifying ;  the  soil 
is  spontaneous.'  What  does  that  mean  ?  mum  !  mum  ! 
'The  water  runs  over  sands  of  gold.'  Why,  it  is  a 
description  of  Paradise.  And,  now  I  think  of  it,  is  not 
all  this  taken  from  John  Milton  ?  " 

*•'  Very  likely.     It  is  written  by  thieves." 

"  It  seems  there  are  tortoise-shell,  diamonds,  pearls  "  — 

''In  the  prospectus,  but  not  in  the  morass.  It  is  a 
good  straightforward  morass  with  no  pretensions  but  to 
great  damp.  But  don't  be  alarmed,  gentlemen,  our 
countrymen's  money  will  not  be  swamped  there.  It  will 
all  be  sponged  up  in  Threadneedle  Street  by  the  poetic 
swindlers  whose  names,  or  aliases,  you  hold  in  your  hand. 
The  Greek,  Mexican,  and  Brazilian  loans  may  be  trans- 
lated from  Prospectish  into  English,  thus :  At  a  date 
when  every  sovereign  will  l)e  worth  five  to  us  in  sustain- 
ing shrivelling  paper  and  collapsing  credit,  we  are  going 
to  chuck  a  million  sovereigns  into  the  Hellespont,  five 
million  sovereigns  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  two 
millions  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Against  the  loans  to 
the  old  monarchies  there  is  only  this  objection,  that  they 
are  unseasonable  :  will  drain  out  gold  when  gold  will  be 
life-blood  :  which  brings  me,  by  connection,  to  my  third 
item,  the  provincial  circulation.  Pray,  gentlemen,  do 
you  remember  the  year  1793  ?  " 

For  some  minutes  past  a  dead  silence   and   a  deep 


216  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

absorbed  attention  had  received  tlie  young  man's  words : 
but  that  quiet  question  was  like  a  great  stone  descending 
suddenly  on  a  silent  stream.  Such  a  noise,  agitation, 
and  flutter.  The  old  banker  and  his  clerk  both  began  to 
speak  at  once. 

"  Don't  we  ?  " 

"0  Lord!  Mr.  Eichard,  don't  talk  of  1793." 

"  What  do  you  know  about  1793  ?  you  weren't  born." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Richard,  such  a  to-do,  sir !  Eighteen  hun- 
dred firms  in  the  Gazette.     Seventy  banks  stopped." 

"  Nearer  a  hundred,  Mr.  Skinner.  Seventy-one  stopped 
in  the  provinces,  and  a  score  in  London." 

"Why,  sir,  Mr.  Richard  knows  everything,  whether 
he  was  born  or  not." 

"  No,  he  doesn't,  you  old  goose ;  he  doesn't  know  how 
you  and  I  sat  looking  at  one  another  and  pretending 
to  fumble,  and  counting  out  slowly,  waiting  sick  at 
heart  for  the  sack  of  guineas  that  was  to  come  down  by 
coach.  If  it  had  not  come,  we  should  not  have  broken, 
but  we  should  have  suspended  payment  for  twenty -four 
hours,  and  I  was  young  enough  then  to  have  cut  my 
throat  in  the  interval." 

"But  it  came,  sir,  it  came,  and  you  cried,  'Keep  the 
bank  open  till  midnight ! '  and  when  the  blackguards 
heard  that,  and  saw  the  sack  full  of  gold,  they  crept 
away ;  they  were  afraid  of  offending  us.  Nobody  came 
a-nigh  us  next  day.  Banks  smashed  all  round  us  like 
glass  bottles,  but  Hardie  and  Co.  stood,  and  shall  stand 
for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

"Who  showed  the  white  feather,  Mr.  Skinner?  who 
came  creeping  and  snivelling,  and  took  my  hand  under 
the  counter,  and  pressed  it  to  give  me  courage,  and  then 
was  absurd  enough  to  make  apologies  as  if  sympathy- 
was  as  common  as  dirt  ?  Give  me  your  hand  directly, 
you  old  —  hallo  !  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  217 

"  God  bless  you,  sir !  God  bless  you  !  It  is  all  rigbt, 
sir.  The  bank  is  safe  for  another  fifty  years.  We  have 
got  Master  Richard,  and  he  has  got  a  head ;  oh,  Gemini, 
what  a  head  he  has  got,  and  the  other  day  playing 
marbles  ! " 

"  Yes,  and  we  are  interrupting  him  with  our  nonsense : 
go  on,  Richard." 

Richard  had  secretly  but  fully  appreciated  the  folly 
of  the  interruption.  His  was  a  great  mind,  and  moved 
in  a  sort  of  pecuniary  sether  high  above  the  little  weak- 
nesses my  reader  has  observed  in  Hardie  senior  and  old 
Skinner.  Being,  however,  equally  above  the  other  little 
infirmities  of  fretfulness  and  fussiness,  he  waited  calmly 
and  proceeded  coolly. 

"  What  was  the  cause  of  the  distress  in  1793  ?  " 

"  Ah,  that  was  the  puzzle  :  wasn't  it.  Skinner  ?  We 
Avere  never  so  prosperous  as  that  year.  The  distress 
came  over  us  like  a  thunder-storm  all  in  a  moment. 
Nobody  knows  the  exact  cause." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  it  is  as  well  known  as  any 
point  of  history  whatever.  Some  years  of  prosperity 
had  created  a  spawn  of  country  banks,  most  of  them 
resting  on  no  basis  ;  these  had  inflated  the  circulation 
with  their  paper.  A  panic  and  a  collapse  of  this  ficti- 
tious currency  was  as  inevitable  as  the  fall  of  a  stone 
forced  against  nature  into  the  air." 

"  There  were  a  great  many  petty  banks,  Richard,  and, 
of  course,  plenty  of  bad  paper.  I  believe  you  are  right. 
The  causes  of  things  were  not  studied  in  those  days  as 
they  are  now." 

*'  All  that  we  know  now,  sir,  is  to  be  found  in  books 
written  long  before  1793." 

" Books  !  books !  " 

"  Yes,  sir ;  a  book  is  not  dead  paper  except  to  sleepy 
minds.     A  book  is  a  man  giving  you  his  best  thought 


218  LOVE   ]ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    INIE   LONG. 

in  his  very  best  Avords.  It  is  only  the  shallow  reader 
that  can't  learn  life  from  gennine  Looks.  I'll  back  him 
Avho  studies  them,  against  the  man  who  skims  his  fellow- 
creatures —  and  vice  versa.  A  single  page  of  Adam 
Smith  studied,  understood,  and  acted  on  by  the  states- 
men of  your  day,  would  have  averted  the  panic  of  1793. 
I  have  the  paragraph  in  my  note-book.  He  was  a  great 
man,  sir ;  oblige  me,  Mr,  Skinner." 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Richard,  certainly.  '  Should  the  cir- 
culation of  paper  exceed  the  value  of  the  gold  and  silver 
of  which  it  supplies  the  place,  many  people  would  imme- 
diately perceive  they  had  more  of  this  paper  than  was 
necessary  for  transacting  their  business  at  home :  and,  as 
they  could  not  send  it  abroad,  bank  paper  only  passing 
current  where  it  is  issued,  there  would  be  a  run  upon 
the  banks  to  the  extent  of  this  superfluous  paper.'  " 

Richard  Hardie  resumed.  "We  were  never  so  over- 
run with  rotten  banks  as  now.  Shoemakers,  cheese- 
mongers, grocers,  write  up  '  Bank '  over  one  of  their 
windows,  and  deal  their  rotten  paper  by  the  foolscap 
ream.  The  issue  of  their  larger  notes  is  colossal,  and 
renders  a  panic  inevitable  soon  or  late :  but,  to  make  it 
doubly  sure,  they  have  been  alloAved  to  utter  £1  and  £2 
notes.  They  have  done  it,  and  on  a  frightful  scale. 
Then  to  make  it  trebly  sure,  the  balance  between  paper 
and  specie  is  disturbed  in  the  other  scale  as  well,  by 
foreign  loans  to  be  paid  in  gold.  In  1793  the  candle  was 
left  unsnuffed ;  but  we  have  lighted  it  at  both  ends,  and 
put  it  down  to  roast.  Before  the  year  ends  every  sove- 
reign in  the  banks  of  this  country  may  be  called  on  to 
cash  £30  of  paper,  bank-paper,  share-paper,  foolscap- 
paper,  waste-paper.  In  1793  a  small  excess  of  paper 
over  specie  had  the  power  to  cause  a  panic,  and  break 
some  ninety  banks.  But  our  excess  of  paper  is  far  larger, 
and  with  that  fatal  error  we  have  combined  foreign  loans 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  219 

and  three  hundred  bubble  companies.  Here,  then,  meet 
three  bubbles,  each  of  which  unaided  secures  a  panic. 
Events  revolve,  gentlemen,  and  reappear  at  intervals. 
The  great  French  bubble  of  1719  is  here  to-day  with  the 
addition  of  tAvo  English  tom-fooleries,  foreign  loans  and 
£1  notes.  Mr.  Law  was  a  great  financier:  Mr.  Law  was 
the  first  banker  and  the  greatest.  All  mortal  bankers 
are  his  pupils,  though  they  don't  know  it.  Mr.  Law  was 
not  a  fool :  his  critics  are.  Mr.  Law  did  not  commit  one 
error  out  of  six  that  are  attributed  to  him  by  those  who 
judge  him  without  reading,  far  less  studying,  his  written 
works.  He  was  too  sound  and  sober  a  banker  to  admit 
small  notes.  They  were  excluded  from  his  system.  He 
found  France  on  the  eve  of  bankruptcy  :  in  fact,  that 
state  had  committed  acts  of  virtual  bancruptcy.  He 
saved  her  with  his  bank.  Then  came  his  two  errors, 
one  remediable,  the  other  fatal.  No.  1 :  he  created  a 
paper  company,  and  blew  it  up  to  a  bubble.  When  the 
shares  had  reached  the  skies,  they  began  to  come  down 
like  stones  by  an  inevitable  law.  No.  2 :  to  save  them 
from  their  coming  fate,  he  propped  them  with  his  bank. 
Overrating  the  power  of  governments,  and  underrating 
natures,  he  married  the  Mississippi  shares  (at  forty  times 
their  value)  to  his  bank-notes  by  edict.  What  was  the 
consequence  ?  The  bank-paper,  sound  in  itself,  became 
rotten  by  marriage.  Nothing  could  save  the  share-paper. 
The  bank-paper,  making  common  cause  with  it,  shared 
its  fate.  Had  John  Law  let  his  two  tubs  stand  each  on 
its  own  bottom,  the  shares  would  have  gone  back  to  what 
they  came  from  —  nothing :  the  bank,  based  as  it  was  on 
specie,  backed  stoutly  by  the  government,  and  respected 
by  the  people  for  great  national  services,  would  have 
weathered  the  storm  and  lasted  to  this  day.  But  he  tied 
his  rickety  child  to  his  healthy  child,  and  flung  them 
into  a  stormy  sea,  and  told  them  to  swim  together :  they 


220  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

sank  together.  Now  observe,  sir,  the  fatal  error  that 
ruined  that  great  financier  in  1720  is  this  day  proposed 
to  ns.  We  are  to  connect  our  bank  with  bubble  com- 
panies by  the  double  tie  of  loans  and  liability.  John 
Law  was  sore  tempted ;  the  Mississippi  Company  was 
his  own  child  as  well  as  the  bank.  Love  of  that  popu- 
larity he  had  drunk  so  deeply,  egotism,  and  parental 
partiality,  combined  to  obscure  that  great  man's  judg- 
ment. But  with  us  folly  stands  naked  on  one  side, 
bubbles  in  hand,  common-sense  and  printed  experience 
on  the  other.  These  six  specimen  bubbles  here  are 
not  our  children.  Let  me  see  whose  they  are,  aliases 
excepted." 

"  Very  good,  young  gentleman,  very  good.  Now  it  is 
my  turn.  I  have  got  a  word  or  two  to  say  on  the  other 
side.  The  journals,  which  are  so  seldom  agreed,  are  all 
of  one  mind  about  these  glorious  times.  Account  for 
that!" 

"  How  can  you  know  their  minds,  sir  ?  " 

"  By  their  leading  columns." 

"Those  are  no  clew." 

"  What !  Do  they  think  one  thing  and  print  another  ? 
Why  should  the  independent  press  do  that  ?  Nonsense." 

"  Why,  sir  ?  Because  they  are  bribed  to  print  it,  but 
they  are  not  bribed  to  think  it." 

"  Bribed  ?     The  English  press  bribed  !  " 

"  Oh  !  not  directly,  like  the  English  freeman.  Oblige 
me  Avith  a  journal  or  two,  no  matter  which ;  they  are  all 
tarred  with  the  same  stick  in  time  of  bubble.  Here,  sir, 
are  £50  worth  of  bubble  advertisements,  yielding  a  profit 
of  say  £25  on  this  single  issue.  Li  this  one  are  nearer 
£100  worth  of  such  advertisements.  Now  is  it  in  nature 
that  a  newspaper,  which  is  a  trade  speculation,  should 
say  the  word  that  would  blight  its  own  harvest  ?  This 
is  the  oblique  road  by  which  the  English  press  is  bribed. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  221 

These  leaders  are  mere  echoes  of  to-day's  advertisement 
sheet,  and  bidders  for  to-morrow's." 

"  The  world  gets  worse  every  day,  Skinner." 

"  It  gets  no  better,"  replied  Eichard,  philosophically. 

"  But,  Richard,  here  is  our  county  member,  and , 

staid  sober  men  both  ;  and  both  have  pledged  their  honor 
on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  the  sound 
character  of  some  of  these  companies." 

"  They  have,  sir :  but  they  will  never  redeem  the  said 
honor  :  for  they  are  known  to  be  bribed,  and  not  obliquely, 
by  those  very  companies."  (The  price  current  of  M.P. 
honor,  in  time  of  bubble,  ought  to  be  added  to  the  Avorks 
of  arithmetic.)  "  Those  two  Brutuses  get  £500  apiece 
per  annum   for   touting  those  companies   down   at   St. 

Stephen's.     goes   cheaper   and   more   oblique.     He 

touts,  in  the  same  place,  for  a  gas  company,  and  his 
house  in  the  square  flares  from  cellar  to  garret,  gratis." 

''  Good  gracious  !  and  he  talked  of  the  light  of  con- 
science in  his  very  last  speech.  But  this  cannot  apply 
to  all.  There  is  the  archbishop  :  he  can't  have  sold  his 
name  to  that  company." 

"  Who  knows  ?  he  is  over  head  and  ears  in  debt." 

"  But  the  duke,  he  can't  have." 

"  Why  not  ?  he  is  over  head  and  ears  in  debt.  Princes 
deep  in  debt  by  misconduct,  and  bishops  deep  in  ditto 
by  ditto,  are  half-honest,  needy  men:  and  half-honest, 
»eedy  men  are  all  to  be  bought  and  sold  like  hogs  in 
Smithfield,  especially  in  time  of  bubble." 

"  What  is  the  world  come  to  !  " 

"  What  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago." 

"I  have  got  one  pill  left  for  him,  Skinner.  Here  is 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  a  man  whose  name 
stands  for  caution,  has  pronounced  a  panegyric  on  our 
situation.  Here  are  his  words  quoted  in  this  leader : 
now  listen.      'We  may  safely  venture   to   contemplate 


222  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

with  instructive  admiration  the  harmony  of  its  propor- 
tions and  the  solidity  of  its  basis.'  What  do  3^011  say  to 
that  ?  " 

''■  I  say  it  is  one  man's  opinion  versus  the  experience 
of  a  century.  Besides,  that  is  a  quotation,  and  may  be 
a  fraudulent  one." 

"  No  !  no  !  the  speech  was  only  delivered  last  Wednes- 
day :  Ave  will  refer  to  it.  Mum  !  mum  !  Ah  !  here  it  is. 
'  The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  rose  and '  —  mum  ! 
mum  !  —  ah  I  'I  am  of  —  o-pinion  that  —  if,  upon  a  fair 
review  of  our  situation,  there  shall  appear  to  be  nothing 
hollow  in  its  foundation,  artificial  in  its  superstructure, 
or  flimsy  in  its  general  results,  we  may  safely  venture  to 
contemplate  with  instructive  admiration  the  harmony  of 
its  proportions  and  the  solidity  of  its  basis.' " 

"  Ha,  ha,  ha  !  I  quite  agree  with  cautious  Bobby.  If 
it  is  not  hollow  it  may  be  solid :  if  it  is  not  a  gigantic 
paper  balloon,  it  may  be  a  very  fine  globe,  and  vice  versa, 
which  vice  versa  he  in  his  heart  suspects  to  be  the  truth. 
You  see,  sir,  the  mangled  quotation  was  a  swindle  like 
the  flimsy  superstructure  it  was  intended  to  prop.  The 
genuine  paragraph  is  a  fair  sample  of  Eobinson  and  of 
the  art  of  withholding  opinion  by  means  of  expression. 
But,  as  quoted,  by  a  fraudulent  suppression  of  one-half, 
the  unbalanced  half  is  palmed  off  as  a  whole,  and  an  in- 
decision perverted  into  a  decision.  I  might  just  as 
fairly  cite  him  as  describing  our  situation  to  be  '  hollow 
in  its  basis,  artificial  in  its  superstructure,  flimsy  in  its 
general  result.'  Since  you  value  names,  I  will  cite  you 
one  man  that  has  commented  on  the  situation,  not  like 
Mr.  Robinson  by  misty  sentences  each  neutralizing  the 
other,  but  by  consistent  acts :  a  man,  gentlemen,  whose 
operations  have  always  been  numerous  and  courageous 
in  less  jrrosperous  times,  yet  now  he  is  out  of  everything^ 
but  a  single  insurance  company." 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  223 

"  Who  is  the  gentleman  ?  " 

"  It  is  not  a  gentleman  :  it  is  a  blackguard,"  said  the 
exact  youth. 

"  You  excite  my  curiosity.  Who  is  the  capitalist, 
then,  that  stands  aloof  ?  " 

"Nathan  Meyer  Rothschild." 

"  The  devil !  " 

Old  Skinner  started  sitting.  "Rothschild  hanging 
back  !  Oh,  master,  for  heaven's  sake  don't  let  us  try  to 
be  wiser  than  those  devils  of  Jews.  Mr.  Richard,  I  bore 
up  pretty  well  against  your  book-learning,  but  now  you've 
hit  me  with  a  thunderbolt.  Let  us  get  in  gold,  and  keep 
as  snug  as  mice  ;  and  not  lend  one  of  them  a  farthing  to 
save  them  from  the  gallows.  Those  Jews  smell  farther 
than  a  Christian  can  see.  Don't  let's  have  any  more 
1793's,  sir,  for  heaven's  sake.  Listen  to  Mr.  Richard  ;  he 
has  been  abroad  and  come  back  with  a  head." 

"  Be  quiet,  Skinner  !  You  seem  to  possess  private  in- 
formation, Richard." 

"  I  employ  three  myrmidons  to  hunt  it :  it  will  be  use- 
ful by  and  by." 

"  It  may  be  useful  now.     Remark  on  these  proposals." 

"  Well,  sir,  two  of  them  are  based  on  gold-mines,  — 
shares  at  a  fabulous  premium.  Now  no  gold-mine  can 
be  worked  to  a  profit  by  a  company.  Prima :  Gold  is 
not  found  in  veins  like  other  metals.  It  is  an  abundant 
metal  made  scarce  to  man  by  distribution  over  a  wide 
surface.  The  very  phrase  '  gold-mine '  is  delusive. 
Secundo :  Gold  is  a  metal  that  cannot  be  worked  to  a 
profit  by  a  company,  for  this  reason  :  workmen  will  hunt 
it  for  others  so  long  as  the  daily  wages  average  higher 
than  the  amount  of  metal  they  find  per  diem  ;  but,  that 
Rubicon  once  passed,  away  they  run  to  find  gold  for  them- 
selves in  some  spot  with  similar  signs ;  or,  if  they  stay, 
it  is  to  murder  your  overseers  and  seize  your  mine.    Gold 


224  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

digging  is  essentially  an  individual  speculation.  These 
shares  sell  at  seven  hundred  pounds  apiece :  a  dozen  of 
them  are  not  worth  one  Dutch  tulip-root.  Ah  !  here  is  a 
company  of  another  class,  in  which  you  have  been  in- 
vited to  be  director ;  they  would  have  given  you  shares 
and  made  you  liable."  Mr.  Richard  consulted  his  note- 
book. "  This  company,  which  '  commands  the  wealth  of 
both  Indies '  —  in  perspective  —  dissolved  yesterday  after- 
noon for  want  of  eight  guineas.  They  had  rented  offices 
at  eight  guineas  a  week,  and  could  not  pay  the  first  week. 
'  Turn  out  or  pay,'  said  the  landlord,  a  brute  absorbed  in 
the  present,  and  with  no  faith  in  the  glorious  future. 
They  offered  him  fifteen  hundred  pounds'  worth  of 
shares  instead  of  his  paltry  eight  guineas  cash.  On  this 
he  swept  his  premises  of  them.  "What  a  godsend  you 
would  have  been  to  these  Jeremy  Diddlers,  you  and  the 
ten  thousand  they  would  have  bled  you  of  !  " 

The  old  banker  turned  pale. 

''Oh,  that  is  nothing  new,  sir.  'To-morrow  the  first 
lord  of  the  treasury  calls  at  my  house  and  brings  me 
£11,261 14s.  11  f (7.  which  is  due  to  me  from  the  nation  at 
twelve  of  the  clock  on  that  day ;  you  couldn't  lend  me  a 
shilling  till  then,  could  ye  ? '  Now  for  the  loans.  Baynes 
upon  Haggart  want  two  thousand  pounds  at  five  per 
cent." 

"  Good  names,  Richard,  surely,"  said  old  Hardie 
faintly. 

"  They  were,  but  there  are  no  good  names  in  time  of 
bubble :  the  operations  are  so  enormous  that  in  a  few 
weeks  a  man  is  hollowed  out,  and  his  frame  left  stand- 
ing. In  such  times  capitalists  are  like  filberts  :  they  look 
all  nut,  but  half  of  them  are  dust  inside  the  shell,  and 
only  known  by  breaking.  Baynes  upon  Haggart,  and 
Haggart  upon  Baynes,  the  city  is  full  of  their  paper.  I 
have  brought  some  down  to  show  it  you.     A  discounter, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  225 

who  is  a  friend  of  mine,  did  it  for  tlieni  on  a  consider- 
able scale  at  thirty  per  cent  discount  (cast  your  eye  over 
these  bills,  Haggart  on  Baynes).  But  he  has  burnt  his 
fingers  even  at  that,  and  knows  it.  So  I  am  authorized 
to  offer  all  these  to  you  at  fifty  per  cent  discount." 

"  Good  heavens  !     Eichard  ! " 

"  If  therefore  you  think  of  doing  rotten  apple  upon 
rotten  pear,  otherwise  Haggart  upon  Baynes,  why  do  it 
at  five  per  cent,  when  it  is  to  be  had  by  the  quire  at 
fifty  ?  " 

"Take  them  out  of  sight,"  said  old  Hardie,  starting 
up ;  "  take  them  all  out  of  my  sight.  Thank  God  I  sent 
for  you  !  No  more  discussion,  no  more  doubt.  Give 
me  your  hand,  my  son ;  you  have  saved  the  bank." 

The  conference  broke  wp  with  these  eager  words,  and 
young  Skinner  retired  swiftly  from  the  keyhole. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Hardie  senior  came  to  a  resolution 
which  saddened  poor  old  Skinner.  He  called  the  clerks 
in  and  introduced  them  to  Mr.  Eichard  as  his  managing 
partner. 

"Every  dog  has  his  day,"  said  the  old  gentleman; 
"mine  has  been  a  long  one.  Eichard  has  saved  the 
bank  from  a  grave  error;  Eichai-d  shall  conduct  it  as 
Hardie  and  Son.  Don't  be  disconsolate,  Skinner,  I'll 
look  in  on  you  now  and  then." 

Hardie  junior  sent  back  all  the  proposals  with  a  polite 
negative.  He  then  proceeded  on  a  two-headed  plan :  not 
to  lose  a  shilling  when  the  panic  he  expected  should 
come,  and  to  make  twenty  thousand  pounds  upon  its 
subsiding.  Hardie  and  Son  held  exchequer  bills  on 
rather  a  large  scale :  they  were  at  half  a  crown  premium. 
He  sold  every  one  and  put  gold  in  his  coffers.  He  con- 
verted, in  the  same  way,  all  his  other  securities  except 
consols.  These  were  low,  and  he  calculated  they  would 
rise  in  any  general  depreciation  of  more  pretentious 
15 


226  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

investments.  He  drew  out  liis  balance,  a  large  one, 
from  his  London  correspondent,  and  put  gold  in  his 
coffers.  '  He  drew  a  large  deposit  from  the  Bank  of 
England.  Whenever  his  own  notes  came  into  the  bank 
he  withdrew  them  from  circulation,  ''They  may  hop 
upon  Hardie  and  Son,"  said  he,  "but  they  shan't  run  upon 
us,  for  I'll  cut  off  their  legs  and  keep  them  in  my  safe." 

One  day  he  invited  several  large  tradesmen  in  the 
town  to  dine  with  him  at  the  bank.  They  came  full  of 
curiosity.  He  gave  them  a  luxurious  dinner,  which 
pleased  them.  After  dinner  he  exposed  the  real  state 
of  the  nation,  as  he  understood  it.  They  listened 
politely,  and  sneered  silently,  but  visibly.  He  then 
produced  six  large  packets  of  his  bank-notes ;  each 
packet  contained  three  thousand  pounds.  Skinner,  then 
present,  enveloped  these  packets  in  cartridge-paper,  and 
thA  guests  were  requested  to  seal  them  up.  This  was 
soon  done.  In  those  days  a  bunch  of  gigantic  seals 
dangled  and  danced  on  the  pit  of  every  man's  stomach. 
The  sealed  packets  went  back  into  the  safe. 

"  Show  us  a  sparkle  o'  gold,  Mr.  Richard,"  said  Mere- 
dith, linen-draper  and  wag. 

"Mr.  Skinner,  oblige  me  by  showing  Mr.  Meredith  a 
little  of  your  specie  —  a  few  anti-bubble  pills,  eh !  Mr. 
Meredith." 

Omnes.     "Ha!  ha!  ha!" 

Presently  a  shout  from  ]\Ieredith :  "Boys,  he  has  got 
it  here  by  the  bushel.  All  new  sovereigns.  Don't  any 
of  ye  be  a  linen-draper,  if  you  have  got  a  chance  to  be  a 
banker.     How  much  is  there  here,  Mr.  Richard  ?  " 

"  We  must  consult  the  books  to  ascertain  that,  sir." 

"  ]Must  you  ?  then  just  you  turn  your  head  away,  Mr. 
Richard,  and  I'll  put  in  a  claw." 

Omnes.     "  Haw !  haw  !  ho  ! " 

Richard    Hardie    resumed.      "My   precautions   seem 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  227 

extravagant  to  you  now,  but  in  a  few  months  you  will 
remember  this  conversation,  and  it  will  lead  to  business." 
The  rest  of  the  evening  he  talked  of  anything,  every- 
thing, except  banking.  He  was  not  the  man  to  dilute 
an  impression. 

Hardie  junior  was  so  confident  in  his  reading  and  his 
reasonings,  that  he  looked  every  day  into  the  journals 
for  the  signs  of  a  general  collapse  of  paper  and  credit. 
Instead  of  which,  public  confidence  seemed  to  increase, 
not  diminish,  and  the  paper  balloon,  as  he  called  it, 
dilated,  not  shrank ;  and  this  went  on  for  months.  His 
gold  lay  a  dead  and  useless  stock,  while  paper  was 
breeding  paper  on  every  side  of  him.  He  suffered  his 
share  of  those  mortifications,  which  every  man  must 
look  to  endure,  who  takes  a  course  of  his  own  and  stems 
a  human  current.  He  sat  sombre  and  perplexed  in  his 
bank  parlor,  doing  nothing ;  his  clerks  mended  pens  in 
the  office.  The  national  calamity  so  confidently  pre- 
dicted, and  now  so  eagerly  sighed  for,  came  not. 

In  other  words,  Richard  Hardie  was  a  sagacious  calcu- 
lator, but  not  a  prophet ;  no  man  is  till  afterwards,  and 
then  nine  out  of  ten  are.  At  last  he  despaired  of  the 
national  calamity  ever  coming  at  all.  So  then,  one  dark 
November  day,  an  event  happened  that  proved  him  a 
shrewd  calculator  of  probabilities  in  the  gross,  and 
showed  that  the  records  of  the  past  "studied"  instead 
of  "  skimmed,"  may  in  some  degree  counterbalance  youth 
and  its  narrow  experience.  Owing  to  the  foreign  loans 
there  were  a  great  many  bills  out  against  this  country. 
Some  heavy  ones  were  presented,  and  seven  millions  in 
gold  taken  out  of  the  Bank  of  England  and  sent  abroad. 
This  would  have  trickled  back  by  degrees.  But  the  sud- 
denness and  magnitude  of  the  drain  alarmed  the  bank 
directors  for  the  safety  of  the  bank,  subject  as  it  was  bj' 
Mr.  Peel's  bill  to  a  vast  demand  for  gold. 

H 


228  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Up  to  this  period,  though  they  had  amassed  specie 
themselves,  they  had  rather  fed  the  paper  fever  in  the 
country  at  large ;  but  now  they  began  to  take  a  wide 
and  serious  view  of  the  grave  contingencies  around  them. 
They  contracted  their  money  operations,  refused  in  two 
cases  to  discount  corn,  and  in  a  word  put  the  screw  on 
as  judiciously  as  they  could.  But  time  was  up.  Public 
confidence  had  reached  its  culminating  point.  The  sudden 
caution  of  the  bank  could  not  be  hidden :  it  awoke  pru- 
dence, and  prudence  after  imprudence  drew  terror  at  its 
heels.  There  was  a  tremendous  run  upon  the  country 
banks.  The  smaller  ones  "  smashed  all  around  like  glass 
bottles,"  as  in  1793 ;  the  larger  ones  made  gigantic  and 
prolonged  efforts  to  stand,  and  generally  fell  at  last. 

Many,  whose  books  showed  assets  forty  shillings  in 
the  pound,  suspended  payment.  For  in  a  violent  panic 
the  bank  creditors  can  all  draw  their  balances  in  a  few 
hours  or  days,  but  the  poor  bank  cannot  put  a  similar 
screw  on  its  debtors.  Thus  no  establishment  was  safe. 
Honor  and  solvency  bent  before  the  storm,  and  were 
ranked  with  rottenness :  and,  as  at  the  same  time  the 
market-price  of  securities  sank  with  frightful  rapidity, 
scarcely  any  amount  of  invested  capital  was  safe  in  the 
unequal  conflict. 

Exchequer  bills  went  down  to  sixty  shillings  discount, 
and  the  funds  rose  and  fell  like  waves  in  a  storm. 

London  bankers  were  called  out  of  church  to  answer 
despatches  from  their  country  correspondents. 

The  mint  worked  day  and  night,  and  coined  a  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  sovereigns  per  diem  for  the  Bank  of 
England ;  but  this  large  supply  went  but  a  little  way, 
since  that  firm  had  in  reality  to  cash  nearly  all  the 
country  notes  that  were  cashed. 

Post  chaises  and  four  stood  like  hackney  coaches  in 
Lombard  Street,  and  every  now  and  then  went  rattling 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  229 

off  at  a  gallop  into  the  country  with  their  golden  freight. 
In  London,  at  the  end  of  a  single  week,  not  an  old  sove- 
reign was  to  be  seen,  so  fiercely  was  the  old  coinage  swept 
into  the  provinces,  so  active  were  the  mint  and  the 
smashers :  these  last  drove  a  roaring  trade.  For  paper 
now  was  all  suspected :  and  anything  that  looked  like 
gold  was  taken  recklessly  in  exchange. 

Soon  the  storm  burst  on  the  London  banks.  A  firm 
known  to  possess  half  a  million  in  undeniable  securities 
could  not  cash  them  fast  enough  to  meet  the  checks 
drawn  on  their  counter,  and  fell.  Next  day,  a  house 
whose  very  name  was  a  rock,  suspended  for  four  days. 
An  hour  or  two  later  two  more  went  hopelessly  to  destruc- 
tion. The  panic  rose  to  madness.  Confidence  had  no 
longer  a  clew,  nor  names  a  distinction.  A  man's  enemies 
collected  three  or  four  vagabonds  round  his  door,  and  in 
another  hour  there  was  a  run  upon  him,  that  never  ceased 
till  he  was  emptied  or  broken.  At  last,  as  in  the  ancient 
battles  armies  rested  on  their  arms  to  watch  a  duel  in 
which  both  sides  were  represented,  the  whole  town 
watched  a  run  upon  the  great  house  of  Pole,  Thornton, 
and  Co.  The  Bank  of  England,  from  public  motives, 
spiced  of  course  with  private  interest,  had  determined 
to  support  Pole,  Thornton,  and  Co.,  and  so  perhaps  stem 
the  general  fury,  for  all  things  have  their  turning-point. 
Three  hundred  thousand  pounds  were  advanced  to  Pole 
and  Co.,  who  with  this  aid  and  their  own  resources 
battled  through  the  week,  but  on  Saturday  night  were 
drained  so  low,  that  their  fate  once  more  depended  on 
the  Bank  of  England.  Another  large  sum  Avas  advanced 
them.  They  went  on ;  but  ere  the  next  week  ended  they 
succumbed,  and  universal  panic  gained  the  day.  Climax 
of  all,  the  Bank  of  England  notes  lost  a  share  of  public 
confidence,  and  a  frightful  run  was  made  on  it.  The 
struggle  had  been  prepared  for,  and  was  gigantic  on  both 


230  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

sides.  Here,  the  great  hall  of  the  bank,  full  of  panic- 
stricken  citizens  jostling  one  another  to  get  gold  for  the 
notes  of  the  bank:  there,  foreign  nations  sending  over 
ingots  and  coin  to  the  bank,  and  the  mint  working  night 
and  day,  Sunday  and  week-day,  to  turn  them  into  sove- 
reigns to  meet  the  run.  Sovereigns  or  else  half-sovereigns 
were  promptly  delivered  on  demand.  No  hesitation  or 
sign  of  weakness  peeped  out :  but,  under  this  bold  and 
prudent  surface,  dismay,  sickness  of  heart,  and  the  dread 
of  a  great  humiliation.  At  last,  one  dismal  evening  this 
establishment,  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  panic  had 
twenty  millions  specie,  left  off  with  about  five  hundred 
thousand  pounds  in  coin,  and  a  similar  amount  in  bullion. 
A  large  freight  of  gold  was  on  the  seas,  coming  to  their 
aid,  and  due,  but  not  arrived ;  the  wind  was  high :  and 
in  a  few  hours  the  people  would  be  howling  round  their 
doors  again.  They  sent  a  hasty  message  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  implored  them  to  suspend,  by  order  in  council, 
the  operation  of  Mr.  Peel's  bill  for  a  few  days.  A 
plump  negative  from  Mr.  Canning. 

Then  being  driven  to  expedients,  they  bethought  them 
of  a  chest  of  one-pound  notes  that  they  had  luckily  omit- 
ted to  burn.  Another  message  to  the  government,  "  May 
we  use  these  ?  " 

"As  a  temporary  expedient,  yes." 

The  one-pound  notes  were  whirling  all  over  the  coun- 
try before  daybreak,  and,  marvellous  anomaly,  which 
took  Eichard  Hardie  by  surprise,  they  oiled  the  waves ; 
the  panic  abated  from  that  hour.^  The  holders  of  coun- 
try notes  took  the  one-pound  B.  E.  notes  as  cash,  with 
avidity.  The  very  sight  of  them  piled  on  a  counter 
stopped  a  run  in  more  than  one  city. 

The  demand  for  gold  at  the  Bank  of  England  con- 
tinued, but  less  fiercely,  and  as  the   ingots  still  came 

1  A  hair  of  the  dog  that  bit  us. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  231 

tumbling  in  and  the  mint  hailed  sovereigns  on  them, 
their  stock  of  specie  rose  as  the  demand  declined,  and 
they  came  out  of  their  fiercest  battle  with  honor.  But 
ere  the  tide  turned,  things  in  general  came  to  a  pass 
scarcely  known  in  the  history  of  civilized  nations. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen  took  heirlooms  to  the  pawn- 
brokers, and  swept  their  tills  of  the  last  coin.  Not  only 
was  wild  speculation,  hitherto  so  universal  and  ardent, 
snuffed  out  like  a  candle,  but  investment  ceased,  and 
commerce  came  to  a  standstill. 

Bank  stock,  East  India  stock,  and,  some  days,  consols 
themselves,  did  not  go  down,  they  went  out^  were  blotted 
from  the  book  of  business.  No  man  would  give  them 
gratis,  no  man  would  take  them  on  any  other  terms. 
The  brokers  closed  their  books,  there  were  no  buyers  nor 
sellers.  Trade  was  coming  to  the  same  pass,  except  the 
retail  business  in  eatables ;  and  an  observant  states- 
man and  economist,  that  watched  the  phenomenon,  pro- 
nounced that  in  forty-eight  hours  more  all  dealings 
would  have  ceased  between  man  and  man,  or  returned  to 
the  rude  and  primitive  form  of  barter,  or  direct  exchange 
of  men's  several  commodities,  labor  included. 

Finally  things  crept  into  their  places ;  shades  of  dis- 
tinction were  drawn  between  good  securities  and  bad. 
Shares  were  forfeited,  companies  dissolved,  bladders 
punctured,  balloons  flattened,  bubbles  burst,  and  thou- 
sands of  families  ruined,  thousands  of  people  beggared : 
and  the  nation  itself,  its  paper  fever  reduced  by  a  severe 
bleeding,  lay  sick,  panting,  exhausted,  and  discouraged, 
for  a  year  or  two,  to  await  the  eternal  cycle  —  torpor, 
prudence,  health,  plethora,  blood-letting,  torpor,  prudence, 
health,  plethora,  blood-letting,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  in 
secula  seculorum. 

The  journals  pitched  into  '^  speculation." 

Three  banks  lay  in  the  dust  of  the  town  of ,  ai>d 


232  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Hardie  and  Son  stood  looking  calmly  down  ujwn  the 
ruins. 

Eichard  Hardie  had  carried  out  his  double-headed 
plan. 

There  was  no  run  upon  him :  could  not  be  one  in  the 
course  of  nature,  his  balances  were  so  low,  and  his  notes 
were  all  at  home.  He  created  artificially  a  run  of  a  very 
different  kind.  He  dined  the  same  party  of  tradesmen : 
all  but  one,  who  could  not  come,  being  at  supper  after 
Polonius  his  fashion.  After  dinner  he  showed  the 
packets  still  sealed,  and  six  more  unsealed.  "Here, 
gentlemen,  is  our  whole  issue."  There  was  a  huge  wood 
fire  in  the  old-fashioned  room.  He  threw  a  packet  of 
notes  into  it.  A  most  respectable  grocer  yelled,  and  lost 
color:  victim  of  the  senses,  he  thought  sacred  money 
was  here  destroyed,  and  his  host  a  well-bred  and  oh,  how 
plausible,  maniac.  The  others  derided  him,  and  packet 
after  packet  fed  the  flames.  When  two  only  were  left, 
containing  about  five  thousand  pounds  between  them, 
Hardie  junior  made  a  proposal  that  they  should  adver- 
tise in  their  shop  wdndoM^s  to  receive  Hardie's  five-pound 
notes  as  five  guineas  in  payment  for  their  goods.  Ob- 
serving a  natural  hesitation,  he  explained  that  they 
would  by  this  means  crush  their  competitors,  and  could 
easily  clap  a  price  on  their  goods  to  cover  the  odd  shil- 
lings. The  bargain  was  soon  struck.  Mr.  Eichard  was  a 
great  man.  All  his  guests  felt  in  their  secret  souls,  and 
pockets  —  excuse  the  tautology  —  that  some  day  or  the 
other  they  should  want  to  borrow  money  of  him.  Be- 
sides, "  crush  their  competitors  !  " 

Next  day,  Mr.  Eichard  loosed  his  hand,  and  let  a  flock 
of  his  own  bank-notes  fly  (they  were  asked  for  earnestly 
every  day).  Some  soon  found  their  way  to  the  shops  in 
question.  The  next  day  still  more  took  wing  and  buzzed 
about  the  shops.     Presently  other  tradesmen,  finding  peo- 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  233 

pie  rushed  to  the  shops  in  question,  began  to  bid  against 
them  for  Hardie's  notes,  a  result  the  long-headed  youth 
had  expected ;  and  said  notes  went  up  to  ten  shillings 
premium.  Too  calm  and  cold  to  be  betrayed  into  desert- 
ing his  principles,  he  confined  the  issue  within  the 
bounds  he  had  prescribed,  and  when  they  were  all  out 
seldom  saw  one  of  them  again.  By  this  means  he 
actually  lowered  the  Bank  of  England  notes  in  public 
estimation,  and  set  his  own  high  above  them,  in   the 

town  of .    Deposits  came  in.    Confidence  unparalleled 

took  the  place  of  fear  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  and  he 
v\'a,s  left  free  to  work  the  other  part  of  his  plan. 

To  the  amazement  and  mystification  of  old  Skinner, 
he  laid  out  ten  thousand  pounds  in  exchequer  bills :  and 
followed  this  up  by  other  large  purchases  of  paper,  paper, 
nothing  but  paper. 

Hardie  senior  was  nervous. 

"  Are  you  true  to  your  own  theory,  Eichard  ?  " 

The  youth  explained  to  him  that  blind  confidence 
always  ends  in  blind  distrust;  and  then  all  paper  be- 
comes depreciated  alike :  but  good  paper  is  sure  to 
recover.  "Sixty -two  shillings  discount,  sir,  is  a  ridicu- 
lous decline  of  exchequer  bills ;  we  are  at  peace,  and 
elastic,  and  the  government  is  strong.  My  other  pur- 
chases all  rest  upon  certain  information,  carefully  and 
laboriously  amassed  while  the  world  was  so  busy  blow- 
ing bubbles.  I  am  now  buying  paper  that  is  unjustly 
depreciated  in  panic,  i.e.,  in  the  second  act  of  that  mania 
of  which  bubble  is  the  first  act."  He  added:  "When 
the  herd  buy,  the  price  rises  :  when  they  sell,  it  falls. 
To  buy  with  them  and  sell  with  them  is  therefore  to  buy 
dear  and  sell  cheap.  JMy  game  —  and  it  is  a  game  that 
reduces  speculation  to  a  certainty  —  is  threefold :  — 

"  First,  never  at  any  price,  or  under  any  temptation, 
buy  anything  that  is  not  as  good  as  gold. 


234  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Secondly,  buy  that  sound  article  when  the  herd 
sells  it. 

"  Thirdly,  sell  it  Avhen  the  herd  buys  it." 

''Richard/'  said  the  old  man,  "I  see  what  it  is — you 
are  a  genius." 

«  No." 

"  It  is  no  use  your  denying  it,  Richard." 

"  Common-sense,  sir,  common-sense." 

''  Yes,  but  common-sense  carried  to  such  a  height  as 
you  do  is  genius." 

"  Well,  sir ;  then  I  OAvn  to  the  genius  of  common- 
sense." 

'•'  I  admire  you,  Richard,  I  am  proud  of  you :  but  the 
bank  has  stood  a  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  never  a 
genius  in  it ; "  the  old  man  sighed. 

Hardie  senior,  having  relieved  his  mind  of  this  vague 
misgiving,  never  returned  to  it :  probably  never  felt  it 
again.  It  was  one  of  those  strange  flashes  that  cross  a 
mind  as  a  meteor  the  sky. 

The  old  gentleman,  having  little  to  do,  talked  more 
than  heretofore,  and,  like  fathers,  talked  about  his  son, 
and,  unlike  sons,  cried  him  up  at  his  own  expense.  The 
world  is  not  very  incredulovis :  above  all,  it  never  dis- 
believes a  man  who  calls  himself  a  fool.  Having  then 
gained  the  public  ear  by  the  artifice  of  self-depreciation, 
he  poured  into  it  the  praises  of  Hardie  junior.  He  went 
about  telling  how  he,  an  old  man,  was  all  but  drawn  into 
the  bubbles,  till  this  young  Daniel  came  down  and  fore- 
told all.  Thus  paternal  garrulity  combined  for  once 
with  a  man's  own  ability  to  place  Richard  Hardie  on  the 
pinnacle  of  provincial  grandeur. 

A  few  years  more,  and  Hardie  senior  died.  (His  old 
clerk  Skinner  followed  him  a  month  later.) 

Richard  Hardie,  now  sole  partner  and  proprietor, 
assumed  a  mode  of  living  unknown  to  his  predecessors. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  235 

He  built  a  large  commodious  house,  and  entertained  in 
the  first  style.  The  best  families  in  the  neighborhood 
visited  a  man  whose  manner  was  quiet  and  stately,  his 
income  larger  than  their  own,  and  his  house  and  table 
luxurious  without  vulgar  pretension  and  the  red-hot 
gilding  and  glare  with  which  the  injudicious  parvenu 
brands  himself  and  furniture.  The  bank  itself  put  on  a 
new  face.  Twice  as  much  glass  fronted  the  street,  and 
a  skylight  was  let  into  the  ceiling :  there  were  five  clerks 
instead  of  three ;  the  new  ones  at  much  smaller  salaries 
than  the  pair  that  had  come  down  from  antiquity. 


236  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Such  was  Mr.  Hardie  at  twenty-five,  and  his  towns- 
people said,  "  If  he  is  so  wise  now  he  is  a  boy,  what  in 
heaven's  name  will  he  be  at  forty  ? "  To  sixty  the 
imagination  did  not  attempt  to  follow  his  wisdom.  He 
was  now  past  thirty,  and  behind  the  scenes  of  his  bank 
was  still  the  same  able  financier  I  have  sketched.  But 
in  society  he  seemed  another  man.  There  his  charac- 
teristics were  quiet  courtesy,  imperturbability,  a  suave 
but  impressive  manner,  vast  information  on  current 
events,  and  no  flavor  whatever  of  the  shop. 

He  had  learned  the  happy  art,  which  might  be  called 
"  the  barrister's  art,"  "  hoc  agendi,^^  of  throwing  the 
whole  man  into  a  thing  at  one  time,  and  out  of  it  at 
another.  In  the  bank  and  in  his  own  study  he  was  a 
devout  worshipper  of  Mammon ;  in  society,  a  courteous, 
polished,  intelligent  gentleman,  always  ready  to  sift  and 
discuss  any  worthy  topic  you  could  start,  except  finance. 
There  was  some  affectation  in  the  cold  and  immovable 
determination  with  which  he  declined  to  say  three  words 
about  money.  But  these  great  men  act  habitually  on  a 
preconceived  system ;  this  gives  them  their  force. 

If  Lucy  Fountain  had  been  one  of  those  empty  girls 
that  were  so  rife  at  the  time,  the  sterling  value  of  his 
conversation  would  have  disgusted  her,  and  his  calm 
silence  when  there  was  nothing  to  be  said  (sure  proof  of 
intelligence),  would  have  passed  for  stupidity  with  her. 
But  she  was  intelligent,  well  used  to  bungling  straight- 
forward flattery,  and  to  smile  with  arch  contempt  at  it, 
and  very  capable  of  appreciating  the  more  subtle  but 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME    LONG.  237 

less  satirical  compliment  a  man  pays  a  pretty  girl  by 
talking  sense  to  her.  And,  as  it  happened,  her  foible 
favored  him  no  less  than  did  her  strong  points.  She 
attached  too  solid  a  value  to  manner ;  and  Mr.  Hardie's 
manner  was,  to  her  fancy,  male  perfection.  It  added  to 
him  in  her  estimation,  as  much  as  David  Dodd's  defects 
in  that  kind  detracted  from  the  value  of  his  mind  and 
heart. 

To  this  favorable  opinion,  Mr.  Hardie  responded  in 
full. 

He  had  never  seen  so  graceful  a  creature,  nor  so  young 
a  woman  so  courteous  and  high-bred. 

He  observed  at  once,  what  less  keen  persons  failed  to 
discover,  that  she  was  seldom  spontaneous,  off  her  guard. 
He  admired  her  the  more.  He  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  infantine,  in  man  or  woman.  "She  thinks  before 
she  speaks,"  said  he,  with  a  note  of  admiration.  On  the 
other  hand  he  missed  a  trait  or  two  the  young  lady 
possessed ;  for  they  happened  to  be  virtues  he  had  no 
eye  for.  But  the  sum  total  was  most  favorable.  In 
short,  it  was  esteem  at  first  sight. 

As  a  cobweb  to  a  cabbage-net,  so  fine  was  Mrs. 
Bazalgette's  reticulation  compared  with  Uncle  Foun- 
tain's. She  invited  Mr.  Hardie  to  stay  a  fortnight  with 
her,  commencing  just  one  day  before  Lucy's  return.  She 
arranged  a  round  of  gayety  to  celebrate  the  double 
event.  What  could  be  more  simple  ?  Yet  there  was 
policy  below.  The  whirl  of  pleasure  was  to  make  Lucy 
forget  everybody  at  Font  Abbey,  to  empty  her  heart,  and 
pave  Mrs.  B.'s  candidate's  way  to  the  vacancy.  Then, 
she  never  threw  Mr.  Hardie  at  Lucy's  head,  contenting 
herself  with  speaking  of  him  with  veneration,  when 
Lucy  herself  or  others  introduced  his  name.  She  was 
always  contriving  to  throw  the  pair  together,  but  no  mortal 
could  see  her  hand  at  work  in  it.     Bref,  a  she-spider. 


238  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

The  first  day  or  two  she  watched  her  niece  on  the  sly, 
just  to  see  whether  she  regretted  Font  Abbey,  or  in  other 
words,  Mr.  Talboys.  Well  acquainted  with  all  the  subtle 
signs  by  which  women  read  one  another,  she  observed 
with  some  uneasiness  that  Lucy  appeared  somewhat  list- 
less and  pensive  at  times,  when  left  quite  to  herself: 
once  she  found  her  with  her  cheek  in  her  hand,  and,  by 
the  way  the  young  lady  averted  her  head,  and  slid  sud- 
denly into  distinct  cheerfulness,  suspected  there  must 
have  been  tears  in  her  eyes,  but  could  not  be  positive. 
Next,  she  noticed  with  satisfaction  that  the  round  of  gay- 
ety,  including,  as  it  did,  morning  rides  as  well  as  evening 
dances,  dissipated  these  little  reveries  and  languors.  She 
inferred  that  either  there  was  nothing  in  them  but  a 
sort  of  sediment  of  ennui,  the  natural  remains  of  a  visit 
to  Font  Abbey,  or,  that,  if  there  was  anything  more,  it 
had  yielded  to  the  active  pleasures  she  had  provided,  and 
to  the  lady's  easy  temper,  and  love  of  society,  "  the  only 
thing  she  loves — or  ever  will,"  said  Mrs.  B.,  assuming 
prophecy. 

"  Aunt,  how  superior  Mr.  Hardie's  conversation  is.  He 
interests  one  in  topics  that  are  unbearable,  generally  ; 
politics,  now.  I  thought  I  abhorred  them  ;  but  I  find  it 
was  only  those  little  paltry  Whig  and  Tory  squabbles 
that  wearied  me.  Mr.  Hardie's  views  are  neither  Whig 
nor  Tory ;  they  are  patriotic,  and  sober,  and  large-minded. 
He  thinks  of  the  country.  I  can  take  some  interest  in 
what  he  calls  politics." 

"  And  pray  what  is  that  ?  " 

"Well,  aunt,  'the  liberation  of  commerce  from  its 
fetters,'  for  one  thing.  I  can  contrive  to  be  interested 
in  that,  because  I  know  England  can  only  be  great  by 
commerce.  Then  'the  education  of  all  classes,'  because 
without  that  England  cannot  be  enlightened  or  good." 

"  He  never  says  a  word  to  me  about  such  things,"  said 


LOVE    ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  239 

Mrs.  Bazalgette ;  "  I  suppose  he  thinks  they  are  above 
poor  me."  She  delivered  this  with  so  admirable  an 
imitation  of  pique,  that  the  courtier  was  deceived,  and 
applied  butter  to  "  a  fox's  wound." 

"  Oh,  no,  aunt !  Consider  !  if  that  was  it,  he  would  not 
waste  them  on  me,  who  am  so  inferior  to  you  in  sagacity. 
More  likely  he  says,  '  This  young  lady  has  not  yet  com- 
pleted her  education ;  I  will  sprinkle  a  little  good  sense 
among  her  frivolous  accomplishments.'  Whatever  the 
motive,  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  Mr.  Hardie.  A  man 
of  sense  is  so  refreshing,  after  all  —  (full  stop).  What 
do  you  think  of  his  voice  ?  " 

"  His  voice  ?     I  don't  remember  anything  about  it." 

"  Yes,  you  do :  you  must ;  it  is  a  very  remarkable  one ; 
so  mellow,  so  quiet,  yet  so  modulated." 

"■  Well,  I  do  remember  now ;  it  is  rather  a  pleasant 
voice  —  for  a  man." 

"  Rather  a  pleasant  voice ! "  repeated  Lucy,  opening 
her  eyes.     "  Why,  it  is  a  voice  to  charm  serpents." 

"  Ha !  ha !     It  has  not  charmed  him  one  yet,  you  see." 

This  speech  was  not  in  itself  pellucid ;  but  these  sweet 
ladies,  among  themselves,  have  so  few  topics  compared 
with  men,  and  consequently  beat  their  little  manor  so 
often,  that  they  seize  a  familiar  idea  under  any  disguise 
with  the  rapidity  of  lightning. 

"  Oh !  charmers  are  charm-proof,"  replied  Lucy ;  "  that 
is  the  only  reason  why  —  I  am  sure  of  that."  Then  she 
reflected  a  while.  "  It  is  his  natural  voice,  is  it  not  ? 
Did  you  ever  hear  him  speak  in  any  other  ?  think  !  " 

"Never." 

"  Then  he  must  be  a  good  man.  Apropos,  is  Mr.  Hardie 
a  good  man,  aunt  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course  he  is." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"  I  never  heard  of  any  scandal  against  him." 


240  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"Oh!  I  don't  mean  your  negative  goodness.  You 
never  heard  anything  against  me  out  of  doors." 

"  Well,  and  are  you  not  a  good  girl  ?  " 

"  Me,  aunt  ?     Why,  you  know  I  am  not." 

"  Bless  me,  what  have  you  done  ?  " 

''I  have  done  nothing,  aunt,"  exclaimed  Lucy;  "and 
the  good  are  never  nullities.  Then  I  am  not  open,  which 
is  a  great  fault  in  a  character.  But  I  can't  help  it,  I 
can't !  I  can't !  " 

"  Well,  you  need  not  break  your  heart  for  that.  You 
will  get  over  it  before  you  have  been  married  a  year. 
Look  at  me,  I  was  as  sly  as  any  of  you  at  first  going  off, 
but  now  I  can  speak  my  mind ;  and  a  good  thing,  too,  or 
what  would  become  of  me  among  the  selfish  set  ?  " 

"  Meaning  me,  dear  ?  " 

"  No.  Divide  it  amongst  you.  Come,  this  is  idle  talk. 
Men's  voices,  and  whether  they  are  good,  bad,  or  indiffer- 
ent; as  if  that  mattered  a  pin,  provided  their  incomes 
are  good,  and  their  manners  endurable.  I  want  a  little 
serious  conversation  with  you." 

"  Do  you  ?  "  and  Lucy  colored  faintly.  "  With  all  my 
heart." 

"  We  go  to  the  Hunt's  ball  the  day  after  to-morrow, 
Lucy ;  I  suppose  you  know  that  ?  Now  what  on  earth 
am  I  to  wear,  that  is  the  question.  There  is  no  time 
to  get  a  new  dress  made,  and  I  have  not  got  one," 

"  That  you  have  not  worn  once  ?  " 

"  Many  of  them  twice,  and  even  three  times ; "  and  the 
B.  looked  aghast  at  the  state  of  nudity  to  which  slie  was 
reduced.     Lucy  sidled  towards  the  door. 

"Since  you  consult  me,  dear,  I  advise  you  to  wear 
what  I  mean  to  wear  myself." 

"Ah,  what  a  capital  idea!  then  we  shall  pass  for  sisters. 
I  dare  say  I  have  got  some  old  tiling  or  other  that  will 
match  yours ;  but  you  had  better  tell  me  at  once  what 
you  do  mean  to  wear."    _ 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  241 

"A  gown,  a  pair  of  gloves,  and  a  smirk;"  and  witli 
this  heartless  expression  of  nonchalance,  Lucy  glided 
away,  and  escaped  the  impending  shower. 

"  Oh,  the  selfishness  of  these  girls !  "  cried  the  deserted 
one.  "  I  have  got  her  a  husband  to  her  taste,  so  now  she 
runs  away  from  me  to  think  of  him." 

The  next  moment  she  looked  at  the  enormity  from 
another  point  of  view,  and  then  the  burst  of  injured 
virtue  gave  way  to  a  steady  complacency. 

"She  is  caught  at  last.  She  notices  his  very  voice. 
She  fancies  she  cares  for  politics,  ha !  ha !  She  is  gone 
to  meditate  on  him ;  could  not  bear  any  other  topic ; 
would  not  even  talk  about  dress,  a  thing  her  whole  soul 
was  Avrapped  up  in  till  now.  I  have  known  her  go  on 
for  hours  at  a  stretch  about  it." 

There  are  people  with  memories  so  constructed  that 
Avhat  they  said,  and  another  did  not  contradict  or  even 
answer,  seems  to  them  upon  retrospect  to  have  been 
delivered  by  that  other  person,  and  received  in  dead 
silence  by  themselves. 

Meantime  Lucy  was  in  her  own  room,  and  the  door 
bolted. 

So  she  was  the  next  day ;  and  uneasy  Mrs.  Bazalgette 
came  hunting  after,  and  tapped  at  the  door  after  first 
trying  the  handle,  Avhich  in  Lucy's  creed  was  not  a  dis- 
creet and  polished  act. 

"Nobody  admitted  here  till  three  o'clock." 

"It  is  me,  Lucy." 

"  So  I  conclude,"  said  Lucy  gayly.  " '  Me  '  must  call 
again  at  three,  whoever  it  is." 

"Not  I,"  said  Aunt  Bazalgette,  and  flounced  off  in  a 
pet. 

At  three  dignity  dissolved  in  curiosity,  and  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  entered  her  niece's  room  in  an  ill-temper ;  it 
vanished  like  smoke  at  the  sight  of  two  new  dresses, 
16 


242  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

peach-colored  and  glacees,  just  finished,  lying  on  the  bed. 
An  eager  fire  of  questions.  "  Where  did  you  get  them  ? 
Which  is  mine  ?     Who  made  them  ?  " 

"  A  new  dressmaker." 

"  Ah,  what  a  godsend  to  poor  us  !     ^Vho  is  she  ?  " 

"  Let  me  see  how  you  like  her  work  before  I  tell  you. 
Try  this  one  on." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  tried  on  her  dress,  and  was  charmed 
with  it.  Lucy  would  not  try  on  hers.  She  said  she  had 
done  so,  and  it  fitted  well  enough  for  her. 

"  Everything  fits  you,  you  witch,"  replied  the  B.  "  I 
must  have  this  woman's  address,  she  is  an  angel." 

Lucy  looked  pleased.  "  She  is  only  a  beginner ;  but 
desirous  to  please  you ;  and  '  zeal  goes  farther  than 
talent,'  says  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  Mr.  Dodd !  ah !  by  the  by,  that  reminds  me,  I  am  so 
glad  you  mentioned  his  name.  W'here  does  the  woman 
live  ?  " 

"  The  Avoman,  or,  as  some  consider  her,  the  girl,  lives 
at  present  with  a  charming  person  called  by  the  world 
Mrs.  Bazalgette,  but  by  the  dressmaker  her  sweet  little 
aunt"  (kiss)  (kiss)  (kiss).  And  Lucy,  whose  natural  affec- 
tion for  this  lady  was  by  a  certain  law  of  nature  heated 
higher  by  working  day  and  night  for  her  in  secret,  felt  a 
need  of  expansion,  and  curled  round  her  like  a  serpent 
with  a  dove's  heart. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  did  what  you  and  I,  manly  reader, 
should  have  been  apt  to  omit.  She  extricated  herself, 
not  roughly,  yet  a  little  hastily,  like  a  water-snake  glid- 
ing out  of  the  other  sweet  serpent's  folds. ^  Sacred  dress 
being  present,  she  deemed  caresses  frivolous  and  ill- 
timed.     "There,  there,  let  me  alone,  child,  and  tell  me 

»  Here  flashes  on  the  cultivated  mind  the  sprightly  couplet,— 
Oh  that  I  had  my  mistress  at  this  bay, 
To  kiss  and  clip  me  — till  I  run  away.  — Shakespeare. 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  243 

all  about  it  directly.  Wliat  put  it  into  your  head  ?  Who 
taught  you  ?  Is  this  your  first  attempt  ?  Have  you 
paid  for  the  silk,  or  am  I  to  ?  Do  tell  me  quick,  dou't 
keep  me  on  thorns  !  " 

Lucy  answered  this  fusillade  in  detail. 

"  You  know,  aunt,  dressmakers  bring  us  their  failures, 
and  we,  by  our  hints,  get  them  made  into  successes." 

"  So  we  do." 

"  So  I  said  to  myself,  '  Now  why  not  bring  a  little 
intelligence  to  bear  at  the  beginning,  and  make  these 
things  right  at  once  ?  '  Well,  I  bought  several  books  and 
studied  them,  and  practised  cutting  out,  in  large  sheets 
of  brown  paper  first :  next  I  ventured  a  small  flight ;  I 
made  Jane  a  gown." 

"  What,  your  servant  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  had  a  double  motive  ;  first  attempts  are  sel- 
dom brilliant ;  and  it  was  better  to  fail  in  merino,  and 
on  Jane,  than  on  you,  madam,  and  in  silk.  In  the  next 
place,  Jane  had  been  giving  herself  airs,  and  objecting 
to  do  some  work  of  that  kind  for  me :  so  I  thought  it  a 
good  opportunity  to  teach  her  that  dignity  does  not  con- 
sist in  being  disobliging.  The  poor  girl  is  so  ashamed 
now :  she  comes  to  me  in  her  merino  frock,  and  pesters 
me  all  day  to  let  her  do  things  for  me.  I  am  at  my 
wit's  end  sometimes  to  invent  unreal  distresses,  like  the 
writers  of  fiction,  you  know :  and,  aunty  dear,  you  will 
not  have  to  pay  for  the  stuff :  to  tell  you  the  real  truth, 
I  overheard  Mr.  Bazalgette  say  something  about  the 
length  of  your  last  dressmaker's  bill :  and  as  I  have 
been  very  economical  at  Font  Abbey,  I  found  I  had 
eighteen  pounds  to  spare :  so  I  said  nothing,  but  I 
thought.  We  will  have  a  dress  apiece  that  nobody  shall 
have  to  pay  for." 

"  Eighteen  pounds  ?  those  two  lovely  dresses,  lace, 
trimmings,  and  all  for  eighteen  pounds  !  " 


244  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ISIE  LONG. 

"  Yes,  aunt.  So  you  see  these  good  souls  that  make 
our  dresses,  have  imposed  upon  us  without  ceremony  •- 
they  would  have  been  twenty-five  pounds  apiece :  now 
would  they  not  ?  " 

"At  least.  "Well,  you  are  a  clever  girl.  I  might  as 
well  try  on  yours,  as  you  won't." 

''  Do,  dear." 

She  tried  on  Lucy's  gown,  and  as  before,  got  two  look- 
ing-glasses into  a  line,  twisted  and  twirled  and  inspected 
herself  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  and  in  an  hour  and 
a  half  resigned  herself  to  take  the  dress  off.  Lucy  ob- 
served with  a  sly  smile  that  her  gayety  declined,  and 
she  became  silent  and  pensive. 

"  In  the  dead  of  the  night,  when  with  labor  oppressed, 
All  mortals  enjoy  the  sweet  blessing  of  rest,"  a  phantom 
stood  at  Lucy's  bedside,  and  fingered  her.  She  awoke 
with  a  violent  scream,  the  first  note  of  which  pierced 
the  night's  dull  ear,  but  the  second  sounded  like  a  wail 
from  a  well,  being  uttered  a  long  way  under  the  bed- 
clothes. "  Hush  !  don't  be  a  fool,"  cried  the  affectionate 
phantom ;  and  kneaded  the  uncertain  form  through  the 
bedclothes,  "  fancy  screeching  so  at  sight  of  me  I "  Then 
gradually  a  single  eye  peeped  timidly  between  two  white 
hands  that  held  the  sheets  ready  for  defence  like  a  shield. 

"  B — b — but  you  are  all  in  white,"  gulped  Lucy,  trem- 
bling all  over :  for  her  delicate  fibres  were  set  quivering, 
and  could  not  be  stilled  by  a  word :  fingered  at  midnight 
all  in  a  moment  by  a  shade. 

"Why,  what  color  should  I  be — in  my  nightgown?" 
snapped  the  spectre.  "  ^Vliat  color  is  yours  ?  "  and  she 
gave  Lucy's  a  little  angry  pull  —  "  and  everybody 
else's  ?  " 

"But  at  the  dead  of  night,  aunt,  and  witliout  any 
warning  —  it's  terrible.  Oh,  dear!"  (another  little  gulp 
in  the  throat,  exceeding  pretty.) 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  245 

"  Lucy,  be  yourself,"  said  the  spectre  severely ;  "  you 
used  not  to  be  so  selfish  as  to  turn  hysterical  when  your 
aunt  came  to  you  for  advice." 

Lucy  had  to  do  a  little  "  forgive,  bjest  shade  !  "  She 
apologized :  crushed  down  her  obtrusive,  egotistical  tre- 
mors, and  vibrated  to  herself. 

Placable  Aunt  Bazalgette  accepted  her  excuses,  and 
opened  the  business  that  had  brought  her  there. 

"I  didn't  leave  my  bed  at  this  hour  for  nothing,  you 
may  be  sure." 

"  N — no,  aunt." 

"Lucy,"  continued  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  deepening,  "there 
is  a  weight  on  my  mind." 

LTp  sat  Lucy  in  the  bed;  and  two  sapphire  eyes 
opened  Avide  and  made  terror  lovely. 

"  Oh,  aunt !  what  have  you  been  doing  ?  It  is  remorse, 
then,  that  will  not  let  you  sleep.  Ah  !  I  see  !  —  your 
flirtations  !  your  flirtations  !  this  is  the  end  of  them." 

"  My  flirtations,"  cried  the  other,  in  great  surprise.  "I 
never  flirt.     I  only  amuse  myself  with  them,"  ^ 

"  You  —  never  —  flirt  ?  oh  !  —  oh  !  —  oli !  Mr.  Christo- 
jjher,  Mr.  Home,  Sir  George  Healy,  Mr.  M'Donnel,  Mr. 
Wolf  enton,  Mr.  Vaughn  —  there  !  oh,  and  Mr.  Dodd  ! " 

"  Well,  at  all  events  it's  not  for  any  of  those  fools  I 
get  out  of  my  bed  at  this  time  of  night.  I  have  a  weight 
on  my  mind:  so  do  be  serious,  if  you  can.  Lucy,  I 
tried  all  yesterday  to  hide  it  from  myself,  but  I  cannot 
succeed." 

"  What,  dear  aunt  ?  " 

"Your  gown  fits  me  ever  so  much  better  than  my 
own."     She  sighed  deeply. 

Lucy  smiled  slyly :  but  she  replied,  "  Is  not  that 
fancy  ? " 

1  In  strict  grammar  this  "tliem"  ought  to  refer  to  "  flirtations,"  but 
Lucy's  aunt  did  not  talk  strict  grammar.    Does  jours? 


246  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  No !  Lucy,  no ! "  was  tlie  solemn  reply,  "  I  have 
tried  to  shut  my  eyes  to  it :  but  I  can't."        ' 

''  So  it  seems.     Ha  !  ha ! " 

"  Now  do  be  serious !  it  is  no  laughing  matter :  how 
unfortunate  I  am  ! " 

"  Not  at  all.  Take  my  gown  :  I  can  easily  alter  yours 
to  fit  me,  if  necessary." 

"  Oh,  you  good  girl !  how  clever  you  are  !  I  should 
never  have  thought  of  that."  N.B.  She  had  been  think- 
ing of  nothing  else  these  six  hours. 

"  Go  to  bed,  dear,  and  sleep  in  peace,"  said  Lucy, 
soothingly.     "  Leave  all  to  me." 

"No !  I  can't  leave  all  to  you.  Now  I  am  to  have 
yours,  I  must  try  it  on."  It  was  hers  now  ;  so  her  confi- 
dence in  its  fitting  was  shaken. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  then  lighted  all  the  candles  in  the 
sconces,  and  opened  Lucy's  drawers,  and  took  out  linen, 
and  put  on  the  dress  with  Lucy's  aid,  and  showed  Lucy 
how  it  fitted,  and  was  charmed,  like  a  child  with  a  new 
toy. 

Presently  Lucy  interrupted  her  raptures  by  an  excla- 
mation. Mrs.  Bazalgette  looked  round,  and  there  was 
her  niece  inspecting  the  ghostly  robe  which  had  caused 
her  such  a  fright. 

"  Here  are  oceans  of  yards  of  lace,  on  her  very  night- 
gown," cried  Lucy. 

"Well!  does  not  every  lady  wear  lace  on  her  night- 
gown ? "  was  the  tranquil  reply.  "  What  is  that  on 
yours,  pray  ?  " 

"  A  little  misery  of  Valenciennes,  an  inch  broad :  but 
this  is  Mechlin :  superb !  delicious  !  Well,  aunt,  you 
are  a  sincere  votary  of  the  Graces  :  you  put  on  fine 
things  because  they  are  fine  things,  not  with  the  hollow 
motive  of  dazzling  society;  you  w^ear  Mechlin  not  for 
eclat,  but  for  Mechlin.     Alas  !  how  few,  like  you,  pursue 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  247 

quite  the  same  course  in  the  dark,  that  they  do  in  the 
workl's  eye." 

"  Don't  moralize,  dear  !  unhook  me  ! " 

After  breakfast  Mrs.  Bazalgette  asked  Lucy  how  long 
she  could  give  her  to  choose  which  of  the  two  gowns  to 
take,  after  all. 

"  Till  eight  o'clock." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  breathed  again.  She  had  thought  her- 
self committed  to  No.  2,  and  No.  1  was  beginning  to 
look  lovely  in  consequence.  At  eight,  the  choice  being 
offered  her  with  impenetrable  nonchalance  by  Lucy,  she 
took  Lucy's  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  and  sailed 
off  gayly  to  her  own  room  to  put  it  on,  in  which  progress 
the  ample  peach-colored  silk  held  out  in  both  hands 
showed  like  Cleopatra's  foresail,  and  seemed  to  draw  the 
dame  along. 

Lucy,  too,  was  happy  —  demurely ;  for  in  all  this  busi- 
ness the  female  novice,  "  la  rusee  sans  le  savoir,"  had 
outwitted  the  veteran.  Lucy  had  measured  her  whole 
aunt.  So  she  made  dress  A  for  her,  but  told  her  she 
was  to  have  dress  B.  This  at  once  gave  her  desires  a 
perverse  bent  towards  her  own  property,  the  last  direc- 
tion they  could  have  been  warped  into  by  any  other 
means ;  and  so  she  was  deluded  to  her  good,  and  fitted 
to  a  hair,  soul  and  body. 

Going  to  the  ball,  one  cloud  darkened  for  an  instant 
the  matron's  mind. 

"  I  am  afraid  they  will  see  it  only  cost  nine  pounds." 

''Enfant!''  replied  Lucy,  " wtat.  twenty." 

At  the  ball  Mr.  Hardie  and  Lucy  danced  together,  and 
were  the  most  admired  couple. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Hardie  announced  that  he  Was 
obliged  to  curtail  his  visit,  and  go  up  to  London.  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  remonstrated.  Mr.  Hardie  apologized,  and 
asked  permission  to  make  out  the  rest  of  his  visit  on  his 


248  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

return.  Mrs.  B.  accorded  joyfully ;  but  Lucy  objected. 
"  Aunt,  don't  you  be  deluded  into  any  such  arrangement : 
Mr.  Hardie  is  liable  to  another  fortnight.  We  have 
nothing  to  do  with  his  mismanagement.  He  conies  to 
spend  a  fortnight  with  us:  he  tries  —  but  fails;  I  am 
sorry  for  Mr.  Hardie,  but  the  engagement  remains  in 
full  force.  I  appeal  to  you,  Mr.  Bazalgette,  you  are  so 
exact." 

"I  don't  see  myself  how  he  can  get  out  of  it  with 
credit,"  said  Bazalgette,  solemnly. 

"  I  am  happy  to  find  that  my  duty  is  on  the  side  of 
my  inclination,"  said  Mr.  Hardie ;  smiled  well  pleased, 
and  looked  handsomer  than  ever. 

They  all  missed  him  more  or  less :  but  nobody  more 
than  Lucy.  His  conversation  had  a  peculiar  charm  for 
her.  His  knowledge  of  current  events  was  unparalleled; 
then  there  was  a  quiet  potency  in  him  she  thought  very 
becoming  in  a  man  :  and  then  his  manner.  He  was  the 
first  of  our  unfortunate  sex  who  had  reached  her  beau- 
ideal.  One  was  harsh,  another  finicking :  a  third  loud : 
a  fourth  enthusiastic ;  a  fifth  timid ;  and  all  failed  in 
tact  except  Mr.  Hardie.  Then  other  male  voices  were 
imperfect :  they  were  too  insignificant,  or  too  startling, 
too  bass,  or  too  treble,  too  something  or  too  other.  Mr. 
Hardie's  was  a  mellow  tenor,  always  modulated  to  the 
exact  tone  of  good  society.  Like  herself,  too,  he  never 
laughed  loud,  seldom  out :  and  even  his  smiles,  like  her 
own,  did  not  come  in  unmeaning  profusion,  so  told  when 
they  did  come. 

The  Bazalgettes  led  a  very  quiet  life  for  the  next  fort- 
night, for  Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  husbanding  invitations 
for  Mr.  Hardie's  return. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  yawned  many  times  during  this  barren 
period ;  but  with  considerable  benevolence  she  shielded 
Lucy  from  ennui.     Lucy  was  a  dressmaker,  gifted  but 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  249 

inexperienced ;  Avell,  then,  she  would  supply  the  latter 
deficiency  by  giving  her  an  infinite  variety  of  alterations 
to  make  in  a  multitude  of  garments.  There  are  egotists, 
who  charge  for  tuition,  but  she  would  teach  her  dear 
niece  gratis.  A  mountain  of  dresses  rose  in  the  draw- 
ing-room, a  dozen  metamorphoses  were  put  in  hand,  and 
a  score  more  projected. 

She  pulled  down,  she  built  up,  she  rounded  the  angu- 
lar, and  squared  the  round.  And  here  Mr.  Bazalgette 
took  perverse  views,  and  misbehaved.  He  Avas  a  very 
honest  man,  but  not  a  refined  courtier.  He  seldom  inter- 
fered with  these  ladies  one  way  or  other,  except  to 
provide  funds,  which  interference  was  never  snubbed : 
for  was  he  not  master  of  the  house  in  that  sense  ?  But 
having  observed  what  was  going  on  day  after  day,  in  the 
drawing-room  or  workshop,  he  walked  in  and  behaved 
himself  like  a  brute. 

"  How  much  a  week  does  she  give  you,  Lucy  ?  "  said 
he,  looking  a  little  red. 

Lucy  opened  her  eyes  in  utter  astonishment,  and  said 
nothing  :  her  very  needle  and  breath  were  suspended. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  shrugged  her  shoulders  to  Lucy,  but 
disdained  words.     Mr.  Bazalgette  turned  to  his  wife. 

"  I  have  often  recommended  economy  to  you,  Jane, 
I  need  not  say  with  what  success.  But  this  sort  of 
economy  is  not  for  your  credit,  or  mine.  If  you  want  to 
add  a  dressmaker  to  your  staff  —  with  all  my  heart. 
Send  for  one  when  you  like,  and  keep  her  to  all  eternity. 
But  this  young  lady  is  our  Avard,  and  I  will  not  have  her 
made  a  servant  of  for  your  convenience." 

"Put  your  work  down,  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette 
resignedly.  "  He  does  not  understand  our  affection ; 
nor  anything  else  except  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence." 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  I  do.  I  can  see  through  varnished  selfish- 
ness, for  one  thing." 


250  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

^'  You  certainly  ought  to  be  a  judge  of  the  unvarnished 
article,"  retorted  the  lady. 

"  Having  had  it  constantly  under  my  eyes  these  twenty 
years,"  rejoined  the  gentleman. 

"  Oh,  aunt !  —  oh,  Mr.  Bazalgette  ! "  cried  Lucy,  rising 
and  clasping  her  hands,  ''  if  you  really  love  me,  never 
let  me  be  the  cause  of  a  misunderstanding,  or  an  angry 
word  between  those  I  esteem  !  it  would  make  me  too 
miserable :  and,  dear  Mr.  Bazalgette,  you  must  let  people 
be  happy  in  their  own  way,  or  you  will  be  sure  to  make 
them  unhappy.  My  aunt  and  I  understand  one  another 
better  than  you  do." 

"  She  understands  you,  my  poor  girl." 

"  Not  so  well  as  I  do  her.  But  she  knows  I  hate  to  be 
idle,  and  love  to  do  these  bagatelles  for  her.  It  is  my 
doing  from  the  first,  not  hers  ;  she  did  not  even  know 
I  could  do  it  till  I  produced  two  dresses  for  the  Hunt's 
ball.     So  you  see." 

"That  is  another  matter;  all  ladies  play  at  work. 
But  you  are  in  for  th7-ee  montlis  hard  labor :  look  at  that 
heap  of  vanity ;  she  is  making  a  lady's-maid  of  you. 
It  is  unjust.  It  is  selfish.  It  is  improper.  It  is  not 
for  my  credit,  of  which  I  am  more  jealous  than  coquettes 
are  of  theirs ;  besides,  Lucy,  you  must  not  think,  because 
I  don't  make  a  parade  as  she  does,  that  I  am  not  fond  of 
you.  I  have  a  great  deal  more  real  affection  for  you 
than  she  has ;  and  so  you  will  find  if  we  are  ever  put  to 
the  test." 

At  this  last  absurdity  Mrs.  Bazalgette  burst  out  laugh- 
ing. But  "  la  rnsee  sans  le  savolr "  turned  towards  the 
speaker  and  saw  that  he  spoke  with  a  certain  emotion 
which  was  not  ordinary  in  him.  She  instantly  went 
to  him,  with  both  hands  gracefully  extended.  "I  do 
think  you  have  an  affection  for  me.  If  you  really  have, 
show  it  me  some  other  way,  and  not  by  making  me 
unhappy." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  251 

"  Well,  then,  I  will,  Lucy.  Look  here  —  if  Solomon 
was  such  a  fool  as  to  argue  with  one  of  you  young  geese, 
you  would  shut  his  mouth  in  a  minute.  There,  I  am 
going ;  but  you  will  always  be  the  slave  to  one  selfish 
person  or  other ;  you  were  born  for  it." 

Thus  impotently  growling,  the  merchant  prince  retired 
from  the  field  escorted  with  amenity  by  the  courtier ;  in 
the  passage  she  suddenly  drooped  forward  like  a  cypress- 
tree,  and  gave  him  her  forehead  to  kiss.  He  kissed  it 
with  some  little  warmth,  and  confided  to  her,  in  friendly 
accents,  that  she  was  a  fool :  and  off  he  went,  grumbling 
inarticulately,  to  his  foreign  loans  and  things. 

The  courtier  returned  to  smooth  her  aunt  in  turn  ;  but 
that  lady  stopped  her  with  a  lofty  gesture. 

"My  plan  is  to  look  on  these  monstrosities  as  horrid 
dreams,  and  go  on  as  if  nothing  had  happened." 

Happy  philosophy ! 

Lucy  acquiesced  with  a  smile,  and  in  an  instant  both 
immortal  souls  plunged,  and  disappeared  in  silk,  satin, 
feathers,  and  point-lace. 

The  afternoon  post  brought  letters  that  furnished  some 
excitement.  Mr.  Hardie  announced  his  return,  and  Cap- 
tain Kenealy  accepted  an  invitation  that  had  been  sent 
to  him  two  days  before.  But  this  was  not  all.  Mrs. 
Bazalgette,  with  something  between  a  laugh  and  a  crow, 
handed  Lucy  a  letter  from  Mr.  Fountain,  in  which  that 
diplomatic  gentleman  availed  himself  of  her  kind  invi- 
tation, and  with  elephantine  playfulness,  proposed,  as  he 
could  not  stay  a  month  with  her,  to  be  permitted  to  bring 
a  friend  with  him,  for  a  fortnight :  this  friend  had  unfor- 
tunately missed  her  through  absence  from  his  country 
house,  at  the  period  of  her  visit  to  Font  Abbey,  and  had 
so  constantly  regretted  his  ill  fortune  that  he  (Fountain) 
had  been  induced  to  make  this  attempt  to  repair  the 
calamity.     His  friend's  name  was  Talboys ;  he  was  a 


252  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

gentleman  of  lineage,  and  in  liis  numerons  travels  had 
made  a  collection  of  foreign  costumes,  wliicli  were  really 
worth  inspecting,  and  if  agreeable  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
he  should  send  them  on  before  by  wagon,  for  no  carriage 
would  hold  them. 

Lucy  colored  on  reading  this  letter;  for  it  repeated 
a  falsehood  that  had  already  made  her  bhish.  The  next 
moment,  remembering  how  very  keenly  her  aunt  must 
be  eying  her,  and  reading  her,  she  looked  straight  before 
her,  and  said  coldly,  "  Uncle  Fountain  ought  to  be  wel- 
come here,  for  his  courtesy  to  you  at  Font  Abbey ;  but 
I  think  he  takes  rather  a  liberty  in  projiosing  a  stranger 
to  you." 

"  Rather  a  liberty  ?  say  a  very  great  liberty." 

"  Well,  then,  aunt,  why  not  write  back  that  any  friend 
of  his  would  be  welcome,  but  that  the  house  is  full,  you 
have  only  room  for  Uncle  Fovmtain  ?  " 

"But  that  is  not  true,  Lucy,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
with  sudden  dignity. 

Lucy  was  staggered  and  abashed  at  this  novel  objec- 
tion ;  recovering,  she  whined  humbly,  "  But  it  is  very 
nearly  true." 

It  was  plain  Lucy  did  not  want  Mr.  Talboys  to  visit 
them.  This  decided  Mrs.  Bazalgette  to  let  his  dresses 
and  him  come.  He  would  only  be  a  foil  to  Mr.  Hardie, 
and  perhaps  bring  him  on  faster.  Her  decision  once 
made  on  the  above  groiinds,  she  conveyed  it  in  charac- 
teristic colors.  "  No,  my  love,  where  I  give  my  affection, 
there  I  give  my  confidence.  I  have  your  word  not  to 
encourage  this  gentleman's  addresses ;  so  why  hurt  your 
uncle's  feelings,  by  closing  my  door  to  his  friend  ?  It 
would  be  an  ill  compliment  to  you,  as  well  as  to  Mr. 
Fountain  ;  he  shall  come." 

Her  postcript  to  Mr.  Fountain  ran  thus  :  — 

"  Your  friend  would  have  been  welcome  independently 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  253 

of  the  foreign  costumes ;  but,  as  I  am  a  very  candid 
little  woman,  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  now  you  have 
excited  my  curiosity,  he  will  be  a  great  deal  more  wel- 
come with  them  than  without  them." 

And  here  I  own,  that  I,  the  simple-minded,  should. 
never  have  known  all  that  was  signified  in  these  words, 
but  for  the  comment  of  John  Fountain,  Esq. 

"It  is  all  right,  Talboys,"  said  he.  "My  bait  has 
taken.  You  must  pack  up  these  gimcracks  at  once,  and 
send  them  off,  or  she'll  smile  like  a  marble  Satan  in  your 
face,  and  stick  you  full  of  pins  and  needles." 

The  next  day  Mr.  Bazalgette  walked  into  the  room, 
haughtily  overlooked  the  pyramid  of  dresses,  and  asked 
Lucy  to  come  down-stairs  and  see  something:  she  put 
her  work  aside,  and  went  down  with  him,  and  lo  !  two 
ponies  :  a  cream-colored  and  a  bay.  "  Oh,  you  loves  !  " 
cried  the  virgin  passionately,  and  blushed  with  pleasure. 
Her  heart  was  very  accessible  —  to  quadrupeds. 

"Now,  you  are  to  choose  which  of  these  you  will 
have." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Bazalgette  !  " 

"  Have  you  forgotten  what  you  told  me  ?  *  Try  and 
make  me  happy  some  other  way,'  says  you.  So  I  remem- 
bered hearing  you  say  what  a  nice  pony  you  had  at  Font 
Abbey.  So  I  sent  a  capable  person  to  collect  ponies  for 
you.  These  have  both  a  reputation.  Which  will  you 
have  ?  " 

"  Dear,  good,  kind  uncle  Bazalgette  !  they  are  ducks." 

"Let  us  hope  not:  a  duck's  paces  won't  suit  you,  if 
you  are  as  fond  of  galloping  as  other  young  ladies. 
Come,  jump  up,  and  see  which  is  the  best  brute  of  the 
two." 

"  What,  without  my  habit  ?  " 

"  Well,  get  your  habit  on,  then.  Let  us  see  how  quick 
you  can  be." 


254  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

Off  ran  Lucy,  and  soon  returned  fully  equipped.  She 
mounted  the  ponies  in  turn,  and  rode  them  each  a  mile 
or  two  in  short  distances.  Finally  she  dismounted,  and 
stood  beaming  on  the  steps  of  the  hall.  The  groom  held 
the  ponies  for  final  judgment. 

"The  bay  is  rather  the  best  goer,  dear,"  said  she 
timidly. 

"Miss  Fountain  chooses  the  bay,  Tom." 

"No,  uncle,  I  was  going  to  ask  you  if  I  might  have 
the  cream-colored  one :  he  is  so  pretty." 

"  Ha,  ha,  ha  !  here's  a  little  goose.  Why,  they  are  to 
ride,  not  to  wear.  Come,  I  see  you  are  in  difficulty. 
Take  them  both  to  the  stable,  Tom." 

•'No,  no,  no!"  cried  Lucy.  "Oh,  Mr.  Bazalgette, 
don't  tempt  me  to  be  so  wicked."  Then  she  put  both 
her  fingers  in  her  ears,  and  screamed,  "Take  the  bay 
darling  out  of  my  sight,  and  leave  the  cream-colored 
love."  And  as  she  persisted  in  this  order,  with  her 
fingers  in  her  ears,  and  an  inclination  to  stamp  with 
her  little  feet,  the  bay  disaj^peared,  and  color  won  the 
day. 

Then  she  drooped  suddenly  like  a  cypress  towards 
Mr.  Bazalgette,  which  meant  "  you  can  kiss  me."  This 
time  it  was  her  cheek  she  proffered,  all  glowing  with 
exercise  and  innocent  excitement. 

Captain  Kenealy  was  the  first  arrival;  a  well-appointed 
soldier,  eyes  equally  bright  under  calm  and  excitement, 
mustache  always  clean  and  glossy,  power  of  assent  pro- 
digious. He  looked  so  warlike,  and  was  so  inoffensive, 
that  he  was  in  great  request  for  miles  and  miles  round 
the  garrison  town  of .  The  girls  at  first  introduc- 
tion to  him  admired  him,  and  waited  palpitating  to  be 
torn  from  their  mammas,  and  carried,  half  by  persuasion 
half  by  force,  to  their  conqueror's  tent ;  but  after  a  bit 
they  always  found  him  out,  and  talked  before,  and  at, 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  255 

and  across,  this  ornament,  as  if  it  liad  been  a  bronze  Mars, 
or  a  mustache-tipped  shadow.  This  the  men,  viewing 
from  a  little  distance,  envied  the  gallant  captain ;  and 
they  might  just  as  well  have  been  jealous  of  a  hair- 
dresser's dummy. 

One  eventful  afternoon,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  and  Miss 
Fountain  walked  out,  taking  the  gallant  captain  between 
them  as  escort.  Eeginald  hovered  on  the  rear.  Kenealy 
was  charmingly  equipped,  and  lent  the  party  a  lustre. 
If  he  did  not  contribute  much  to  the  conversation,  he 
did  not  interrupt  it,  for  the  ladies  talked  through  him  as 
if  he  had  been  a  column  of  red  air.  Sing,  Muse,  how 
often  Kenealy  said  "yaas"  that  afternoon;  on  second 
thoughts,  don't !  I  can  weary  my  readers  without  celes- 
tial aid.  Toot !  toot !  toot !  went  a  cheerful  horn,  and 
the  mail-coach  came  into  sight  round  a  corner,  and  rolled 
rapidly  towards  them.  Lucy  looked  anxiously  round  and 
warned  Master  Reginald  of  the  danger  now  impending 
over  infants.  The  terrible  child  went  instantly  (on  the 
"  vitantes  stidtl  vitia  "  principle)  clean  off  the  road  alto- 
gether into  the  ditch,  and  clayed  (not  pipe)  his  trousers 
to  the  knee.  As  the  coach  passed,  a  gentleman  on  the 
box  took  off  his  hat  to  the  ladies,  and  made  other  signs. 
It  was  Mr.  Hardie. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  proposed  to  return  home  to  receive 
him.  They  were  about  a  mile  from  the  house.  They 
had  not  gone  far  before  the  rearguard  intermitted  black- 
berrying  for  an  instant,  and  uttered  an  eldrich  screech ; 
then  proclaimed,  "  Another  coach !  another  coach  ! "  It 
was  a  light  break  coming  gently  along,  with  two  showy 
horses  in  it,  and  a  pony  trotting  behind. 

At  one  and  the  same  moment  Lucy  recognized  a  four- 
footed  darling,  and  the  servant  recognized  her.  He  drew 
up,  touched  his  hat,  and  inquired  respectfully  whether  he 
was  going  right  for  Mr.  Bazalgette's.     Mrs.  Bazalgette 


2H6  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

gave  him  directions  while  Liiey  was  patting  the  pony, 
and  showering  on  him  those  ardent  terms  of  endearment 
some  ladies  bestow  on  their  lovers,  but  this  one  conse- 
crated to  her  trustees  and  quadrupeds.  In  the  break 
were  saddles,  and  a  side-saddle,  and  other  caparisons, 
and  a  giant  box.  The  ladies  looked  first  at  it,  and  then 
through  Kenealy  at  one  another,  and  so  settled  what  was 
inside  that  box. 

They  had  not  walked  a  furlong  before  a  travelling- 
carriage  and  four  horses  came  dashing  along,  and  heads 
were  put  out  of  the  window,  and  the  post-boys  ordered  to 
stop.  Mr.  Talboys  and  Mr.  Fountain  got  out,  and  the 
carriage  was  sent  on.  Introduction  took  place.  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  felt  her  spirits  rise  like  a  veteran's  when  line 
of  battle  is  being  formed,  She  was  one  of  those  ladies 
who  are  agreeable  or  disagreeable  at  will.  She  decided 
to  charm,  and  she  threw  her  enchantment  over  Messrs. 
Fountain  and  Talboys.  Coming  with  hostile  views,  and 
therefore  guilty  consciences,  they  had  expected  a  cold 
welcome.  They  received  a  warm,  gay,  and  airy  one. 
After  a  while  she  manoeuvred  so  as  to  get  between  Mr. 
Fountain  and  Captain  Kenealy,  and  leave  Lucy  to  Mr. 
Talboys.  She  gave  her  such  a  sly  look  as  she  did  it.  It 
implied,  "  You  will  have  to  tell  me  all  he  says  to  you, 
while  we  are  dressing." 

Mr.  Talboys  inquired  who  was  Captain  Kenealy.  He 
learned  by  her  answer  that  officer  had  arrived  to-day, 
and  she  had  no  previous  acquaintance  with  him. 

Whatever  little  embarrassment  Lucy  might  feel,  remem- 
bering her  equestrian  performance  with  Mr.  Talboys  and 
its  cause,  she  showed  none.  She  began  about  the  pony, 
and  how  kind  it  was  of  iiim  to  bring  it.  "And  yet,"  said 
she,  "  if  I  had  known,  I  Avould  not  have  allowed  you  to 
take  the  trouble,  for  I  have  a  pony  here." 

Mr.  Talboys  was  sorry  for  that;  but  he  hoped  she 
would  ride  his  now  and  then,  all  the  '^ame. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  257 

'*  Oh,  of  course.  My  pony  here  is  very  pretty.  But  a 
new  friend  is  not  like  an  old  friend." 

Mr.  Talboys  was  gratified  on  more  accounts  than  one 
by  this  speech.  It  gave  him  a  sense  of  security.  She 
had  no  friend  about  her  now,  she  had  known  as  long  as 
she  had  him ;  and  those  three  months  of  constant  inti- 
macy placed  him  above  competition.  His  mind  was  at 
ease,  and  he  felt  he  could  pop  with  a  certainty  of  success ; 
and  pop  he  would,  too,  without  any  unnecessary  delay. 

The  party  arrived  in  great  content  and  delectation  at 
the  gates  that  led  to  the  house.  "  Stay,"  said  Mrs. 
Bazalgette,  "you  must  come  across  the  way,  all  of  you. 
Here  is  a  view  that  all  our  guests  are  expected  to  admire. 
Those  that  cry  out,  '  Charming !  beautiful !  oh,  I  never ! ' 
we  take  them  in  and  make  them  comfortable.  Those 
that  won't  or  can't  ejaculate  "  — 

"  You  poison  them,  and  then  put  them  in  damp  beds," 
said  Mr.  Fountain,  only  half  in  jest. 

"Worse  than  that,  sir.  We  flirt  with  them,  and  dis- 
turb the  placid  current  of  their  hearts  for  ever  and  ever. 
Don't  we,  Lucy  ?  " 

"You  know  best,  aunt,"  said  Lucy,  half  malice,  half 
pout.  The  others  followed  the  gay  lady,  and  when  the 
view  burst,  ejaculated  t    order. 

But  Mr.  Fountain  stood  ostentatiously  in  the  middle 
of  the  road,  with  his  legs  apart,  like  him  of  Ehodes.  "I 
choose  the  alternative,"  cried  he.  "  Sooner  than  pretend 
I  admire  sixteen  ploughed  fields  and  a  hill,  as  much  as 
I  do  a  lawn  and  flower-beds,  I  elect  to  be  flirted,  and  my 
what  do  ye  call  'em  —  my  stagnant  current  turned  into  a 
whirlpool."  Ere  the  laugh  had  well  subsided,  caused  by 
this  imitation  of  Hercules  and  his  choice,  he  struck  up 
again,  "  Good  news  for  you,  young  gentlemen ;  I  smell 
a  ball ;  here  is  a  fiddle-case  making  for  this  hospitable 
mansion." 
17 


258  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  "I  never  ordered  any 
musician  to  come  here." 

A  tall  but  active  figure  came  walking  light  as  a  feather, 
with  a  large  carpet-bag  on  his  back ;  a  boy  behind  carry- 
ing a  violin-case. 

Lucy  colored,  and  lowered  her  eyes,  but  never  said  a 
word. 

The  young  man  came  up  to  the  gate,  and  then  Mr. 
Talboys  recognized  him.  He  hesitated  a  single  moment, 
then  turned  and  came  to  the  group,  and  took  off  his  hat 
to  the  ladies. 

It  was  David  Dodd. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  259 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  new  guest's  manner  of  presenting  himself  with 
his  stick  over  his  shoulder,  and  his  carpet-bag  on  his 
back,  subjected  him  to  a  battery  of  stares  from  Kenealy, 
Talboys,  Fountain,  and  abashed  him  sore. 

This  lasted  but  a  moment.  He  had  one  friend  in  the 
group,  who  was  too  true  to  her  flirtations  while  they 
endured,  and  too  strong  willed,  to  let  her  fiirtee  be  dis- 
couraged by  mortal. 

"Why,  it  is  Mr.  Dodd,"  cried  she  with  enthusiasm, 
and  she  put  forth  both  hands  to  him,  the  palms  down- 
ward, with  a  smiling  grace.  "  Surely  you  know  Mr.  Dodd," 
said  she,  turning  round  quickly  to  the  gentlemen  with  a 
smile  on  her  lip  but  a  dangerous  devil  in  her  eye. 

The  mistress  of  the  house  is  all  powerful  on  these 
occasions.  Messrs.  Talboys  and  Fountain  were  forced 
to  do  the  amiable,  raging  within ;  Lucy  anticipated  them, 
but  her  welcome  was  a  cold  one.  Says  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
tenderly,  "  And  why  do  you  carry  that  heavy  bag,  when 
you  have  that  great  stout  lad  with  you  ?  I  think  it  is 
his  business  to  carry  it,  not  yours,"  and  her  eye  scathed 
the  boy,  fiddle  and  all. 

All  the  time  she  was  saying  this,  David  was  winking 
to  her,  and  making  faces  to  her  not  to  go  on  that  tack. 
His  conduct  noAv  explained  his  pantomime.  "Here, 
youngster,"  said  he,  "you  take  these  things  indoors,  and 
here  is  your  half-crown." 

Lucy  averted  her  head,  and  smiled  unobserved. 

As  soon  as  the  lad  was  out  of  hearing,  David  continued, 
"  It  was  not  worth  while  to  mortify  him ;  the  fact  is.  I 


260  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

hired  him  to  carry  it,  but,  bless  you,  the  first  mile  he 
began  to  go  down  by  the  head,  and  would  have  found- 
ered, so  Ave  shifted  cargoes."  This  amused  Kenealy, 
who  laughed  good-humoredly ;  on  this  David  laughed  for 
company. 

"There,"  cried  his  inamorata  with  rapture,  "that  is 
Mr.  Dodd  all  over;  thinks  of  everybody,  high  or  low, 
before  himself."  There  was  a  grunt  somewhere  behind 
her ;  her  quick  ear  caught  it ;  she  turned  round  like  a 
thing  on  a  pivot,  and  slapped  the  nearest  face.  It  hap- 
pened to  be  Fountain's.  80  she  continued  with  such  a 
treacle  smile,  "  Don't  you  remember,  sir,  how  he  used  to 
teach  your  cub  mathematics  gratis  ?  " 

The  sweet  smile  and  the  keen  contemporaneous  scratch 
confounded  Mr.  Fountain  for  a  second.  As  soon  as  he 
revived  he  said  stiffly,  "  We  can  all  appreciate  Mr.  Dodd." 

Having  thus  established  her  Adonis  on  a  satisfactory 
footing,  she  broke  out  all  over  graciousness  again,  and, 
smiling  and  chatting,  led  her  guests  beneath  the  hosj^ita- 
ble  roof. 

But  one  of  these  guests  did  not  respond  to  her  cheerful 
strain.  Tlie  Norman  knight  was  full  of  bitterness.  Mr. 
Talboys  drew  his  friend  aside,  and  proposed  to  him  to 
go  back  again.  The  senior  was  aghast.  "Don't  be  so 
precipitate,"  was  all  he  could  urge  this  time.  "Confound 
the  fellow !  Yes.  If  that  is  the  man  she  prefers  to  you, 
I  will  go  home  with  you  to-morrow,  and  the  vile  hussy 
shall  never  enter  my  doors  again." 

In  this  mind  the  pair  went  devious  to  their  dressing- 
rooms. 

One  day  a  witty  woman  said  of  a  man,  that  "he 
played  the  politician  about  turnips  and  cabbages."  That 
might  be  retorted  (by  a  snob  and  brute)  on  her  own  sex 
in  general,  and  upon  INIrs.  Bazalgette  in  particular.  This 
sweet  lady  manceuvred  on  a  carpet  like  Marlborough  on 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  261 

the  south  of  France.  She  was  brimful  of  resources,  and 
they  all  tended  towards  one  sacred  object,  getting  her 
own  way.  She  could  be  imperious  at  a  pinch,  and  knock 
down  opposition;  but  she  liked  far  better  to  undermine 
it,  dissolve  it,  or  evade  it.  She  was  too  woman  to  run 
straight  to  her  je-Ie-veux  so  long  as  she  could  wind 
thitherwards  serpentinely,  and  by  detour.  She  could 
have  said  to  Mr.  Hardie,  "  You  will  take  down  Lucy  to 
dinner,"  and  to  Mr.  Dodd,  "  You  will  sit  next  me ;  "  but 
no,  she  must  mould  her  males  —  as  per  sample. 

To  Mr.  Fountain  she  said,  "  Your  friend,  I  hear,  is  of 
old  family." 

"  Came  in  with  the  Conqueror,  madam." 

"  Then  he  shall  take  me  down :  that  will  be  the  first 
step  towards  conquering  me,  ha  !  ha  !  "  Fountain  bowed, 
well  pleased. 

To  Mr.  Hardie  she  said,  "  Will  you  take  down  Lucy 
to-day  ?  I  see  she  enjoys  your  conversation ;  observe 
how  disinterested  I  am." 

Hardie  consented  with  twinkling  composure. 

Before  dinner  she  caught  Kenealy,  drew  him  asid?, 
and  put  on  a  long  face.  "  I  am  afraid  I  must  lose  you 
to-day  at  dinner.  Mr.  Dodd  is  quite  a  stranger,  and  they 
all  tell  me  I  must  put  him  at  his  ease." 

"Yaas."  ^ 

"Well,  then,  you  had  better  get  next  Lucy  as  you 
can't  have  me." 

"  Yaas." 

"And,  Captain  Kenealy,  you  are  my  aide-de-camp.  It 
is  a  delightful  post,  you  know,  and  rather  a  troublesome 
one." 

"  Yaas." 

"  You  must  help  me  be  kind  to  this  sailor." 

"  Yaas.  He  is  a  good  f ellaa ;  carried  the  baeg  for  the 
little  caed." 


262  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

''  Oh,  did  he  ?  " 

''  And  didn't  maind  been  laughed  at." 

"Now  that  shows  how  intelligent  you  must  be,"  said 
the  wily  one  :  "  the  others  could  not  comprehend  the 
trait  5  well,  you  and  I  must  patronize  him.  Merit  is 
always  so  dreadfully  modest." 

"  Yaas." 

This  arrangement  was  admirable,  but  human ;  conse- 
quently not  without  a  flaw.  Uncle  Fountain  was  left  to 
chance,  like  the  flying  atoms  of  Epicurus,  and  chance 
put  him  at  Bazalgette's  right  hand,  save  one.  From  this 
point  his  inquisitive  eye  commanded  David  Dodd  and 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  and  raked  Lucy  and  her  neighbors,  who 
were  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table.  People  who  look, 
bent  on  seeing  everything,  generally  see  something ; 
item,  it  is  not  always  what  they  would  like  to  see. 

As  they  retired  to  rest  for  the  night,  Mr.  Fountain  in- 
vited his  friend  to  his  room. 

"  We  shall  not  have  to  go  home.  I  have  got  the  key 
to  our  antagonist.  Young  Dodd  is  Jier  lover."  Talboys 
shook  his  head  with  cool  contempt.  "What  I  mean  is 
that  she  has  invited  him  for  her  own  amusement,  not 
her  niece's.  I  never  saw  a  woman  throw  herself  at  any 
man's  head  as  she  did  at  that  sailor's  all  dinner.  Her 
very  husband  saw  it.  He  is  a  cool  hand,  that  Bazalgette  ; 
he  only  grinned,  and  took  wine  with  the  sailor.  He  has 
seen  a  good  many  go  the  same  road ;  soldiers,  sailors, 
tinkers,  tai — " 

Talboys  interrupted  him.  "  I  really  must  call  you  to 
order.  You  are  prejudiced  against  poor  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
and  prejudice  blinds  everybody.  Politeness  required 
that  she  should  show  some  attention  to  her  neighbor, 
but  her  principal  attention  was  certainly  not  bestowed 
on  Mr.  Dodd." 

Fountain  was  surprised.     "  On  whom  then  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  263 

"Well,  to  tell  the  truth,  —  on  your  humble  servant." 

Fountain  stared.  "  I  observed  she  did  not  neglect 
you :  but  when  she  turned  to  Dodd  her  face  puckered 
itself  into  smiles  like  a  bag." 

"  I  did  not  see  it,  and  I  was  nearer  her  than  you/'  said 
Talboys,  coldly. 

"  But  I  was  in  front  of  her." 

"  Yes,  a  mile  off."  There  being  no  juris-consult 
present  to  explain  to  these  two  magistrates  that  if  fifty 
people  don't  see  a  lady  pucker  her  face  like  a  bag,  and 
one  does  see  her  p.  h.  f.  1.  a.  b.,  the  affirmative  evidence 
preponderates  ;  they  were  very  near  coming  to  a  quarrel 
on  this  grave  point.  It  was  Fountain  who  made  peace ; 
he  suddenly  remembered  that  his  friend  had  never  been 
known  to  change  an  opinion.  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  let  us 
leave  that ;  we  shall  have  other  opportunities  of  watch- 
ing Dodd  and  her :  meantime  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  con- 
vince you  of  my  good  news ;  for  I  have  some  bad  to 
balance  it.  You  have  a  rival,  and  he  did  not  sit  next 
Mrs.  Bazalgette." 

"  Pray  may  I  ask  whoin  he  did  sit  next  ?  "  sneered 
Talboys. 

"  He  sat  —  like  a  man  who  meant  to  win  —  by  the  girl 
herself." 

"  Oh !  then  it  is  that  sing-song  captain  you  fear,  sir  ?  " 
drawled  Talboys. 

"  No,  sir,  no  more  than  I  dread  the  epergne.  Try  the 
other  side." 

"  What,  Mr.  Hardie  ?   why,  he  is  a  banker." 

"And  a  rich  one." 

"  She  would  never  marry  a  banker." 

"  Perhaps  not,  if  she  were  uninfluenced  :  but  remem- 
ber we  are  not  at  Talboys  Court  or  Font  Abbey  now. 
We  have  fallen  into  a  den  of  parvenus.  That  Hardie  is 
a  great  catch  according  to  their   views  ;    and  all  Mrs. 


264  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Bazalgette's  influence  witli  Lucy  Avill  be  .  used  in  his 
favor,  or  I  am  much  mistaken." 

''  I  think  not.  She  spoke  quite  slightingly  of  him  to 
me." 

"  Did  she  ?  then  that  puts  the  matter  quite  beyond 
doubt.  Why  should  she  speak  slightingly  of  him  ? 
Bazalgette  spoke  to  me  of  him  with  awe  and  grave 
veneration.  He  is  handsome,  well-behaved,  and  the  girl 
talked  to  him  nineteen  to  the  dozen.  Mrs.  Bazalgette 
could  not  be  sincere  in  underrating  him.  She  under- 
valued him  to  throw  dust  in  your  eyes." 

"  It  is  not  so  easy  to  throw  dust  in  my  eyes." 

"  I  don't  say  it  is,  but  this  woman  will  do  it :  she  is  as 
artful  as  a  fox.  She  hoodwinked  even  me  for  a  moment. 
I  really  did  not  see  through  her  feigned  politeness  in  let- 
ting you  take  her  down  to  dinner." 

"  You  mistake  her  character  entirely.  She  is  coquet- 
tish, and  not  so  well-bred  as  her  niece  ;  but  artful  she  is 
not.  In  fact  there  is  almost  a  childish  frankness  about 
her." 

At  this  stroke  of  observation  Fountain  burst  out  laugh- 
ing bitterly. 

Talboys  turned  pale  with  suppressed  ire,  and  went  on 
doggedly,  "  You  are  mistaken  in  every  particular.  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  has  no  fixed  views  for  her  niece,  and  I  by  no 
means  despair  of  winning  her  to  my  side.  She  is  any- 
thing but  discouraging." 

Fountain  groaned. 

"Mr.  Hardie  is  a  new  acquaintance,  and  Miss  Foun- 
tain told-  me  herself  she  preferred  old  friends  to  new. 
She  looked  quite  conscious  as  she  said  it.  In  a  word, 
Mr.  Dodd  is  the  only  rival  I  have  to  fear  —  good-night!" 
and  he  went  out  with  a  stately  wave  of  the  hand,  like 
royalty  declining  further  conference.  Mr,  Fountain 
sank    into   an   arm-chair  and   muttered  feebly,  "  Good- 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  265 

night."  There  he  sat  collapsed  till  his  friend's  retiring 
steps  were  heard  no  more,  then  springing  wildly  to  his 
feet,  relieved  his  swelling  mind  with  a  long,  loud,  articu- 
lated roar  of  Anglo-Saxon.  "Fool!  dolt!  coxcomb! 
noodle  !  puppy  !  ass  ! ! ! !  " 

Did  you  ever  read  Tully  '-de  Amicitia"  ? 

David  Dodd  was  saved  from  misery  by  want  of  vanity. 
His  reception  at  the  gate  by  Miss  Fountain  was  cool  and 
constrained  ;  but  it  did  not  wound  him.  For  the  last 
month  life  had  been  a  blank  to  him.  She  was  his  sun. 
He  saw  her  once  more,  and  the  bare  sight  filled  him 
with  life  and  joy.  His  was  naturally  a  sanguine,  con- 
tented mind.  Some  lovers  equally  ardent  would  have 
seen  more  to  repine  at  than  to  enjoy  in  the  whole  situa- 
tion ;  not  so  David.  She  sat  between  Kenealy  and 
Hardie ;  but  her  presence  filled  the  whole  room,  and  he 
who  loved  her  better  than  any  other  had  the  best  right 
to  be  happy  in  the  place  that  held  her.  He  had  only  to 
turn  his  eyes,  and  he  could  see  her.  What  a  blessing 
after  a  month  of  vacancy  and  darkness.  This  simple 
idolatry  made  him  so  happy  that  his  heart  overflowed  on 
all  within  reach.  He  gave  INIrs.  Bazalgette  answers  full 
of  kindness  and  arch  gayety  combined.  He  charmed  an 
old  married  lady  on  his  right.  His  was  the  gay,  the 
merry  end  of  the  table ;  and  others  wished  themselves 
up  at  it. 

After  the  ladies  had  retired,  his  narrative  powers,  hon- 
hornmie,  and  manly  frankness,  and  good-nature,  soon  told 
upon  the  men,  and  peals  of  genuine  laughter  echoed  up 
to  the  very  drawing-room,  bringing  a  deputation  from 
the  kitchen  to  the  key-hole,  and  irritating  the  ladies 
overhead,  who  sat  trickling  faint  monosyllables  about 
their  three  little  topics  and  a  half. 

Lucy  took  it  philosophically.  "Now  those  are  the 
good  creatures  that  are  said  to   be  so  unhappy  witliout 


266  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

US.  It  was  a  weight  off  their  minds  when  the  door 
closed  on  our  retiring  forms,  ha !  ha ! " 

"  It  was  a  restraint  taken  off  them,  my  dear,"  said 
Mrs.  Mordaunt,  a  starched  dowager,  stiffening  to  the 
naked  eye  as  she  spoke.  ''  When  they  laugh  like  that 
they  are  always  saying  something  improper." 

"  Oh !  the  wicked  things,"  replied  Lucy,  mighty 
calmly. 

"  I  wish  I  knew  what  they  are  saying,"  cried  eagerly 
another  young  lady ;  then  added,  "  Oh  !  "  and  blushed, 
observing  her  error  mirrored  in  all  eyes. 

Lucy  the  clement  instructed  her  out  of  the  depths  of 
her  own  experience  in  impropriety  :  "  They  swear  ;  that 
is  what  Mrs.  Mordaunt  means,"  —  and  so  to  the  piano 
with  dignity. 

Presently  in  came  Messrs.  Fountain  and  Talboys. 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  asked  the  former  a  little  crossly  how  he 
could  make  up  his  mind  to  leave  the  gay  party  down 
stairs. 

"  Oh,  it  was  only  that  fellow  Dodd.  The  dog  is  cer- 
tainly very  amusing ;  but  '  there's  metal  more  attractive 
here.'  " 

Coffee  and  tea  were  fired  successively  at  the  other  gen- 
tlemen by  way  of  hints ;  but  Dodd  prevailed  over  all, 
and  it  was  nearly  bedtime  when  they  joined  the  ladies. 

Mr.  Talboys  had  an  hour  with  Lucy,  and  no  rival  by 
to  ruffle  him. 

Next  day  a  riding-party  was  organized.  Mr.  Talboys 
decided  in  his  mind  that  Kenealy  was  even  less  danger- 
ous than  Hardie,  so  lent  him  the  quieter  of  his  two  nags, 
and  rode  a  hot  rampageous  brute,  whose  very  name  was 
Lucifer,  so  that  will  give  you  an  idea.  The  grooms  had 
driven  him  with  a  kicking-strap  and  two  pair  of  reins; 
and  even  so,  were  reluctant  to  drive  him  at  all ;  but  his 
steady  companion  had  balanced  him  a  bit.     Lucy  was  to 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ISIE   LONG.  267 

ride  her  old  pony,  and  Mrs.  Bazalgette  the  new.  The 
horses  came  to  the  door :  one  of  the  grooms  offered  to 
put  Lucy  up.  Talboys  waved  him  loftily  back,  and  then, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  David,  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  saw  a  gentleman  lift  a  lady  into  the  saddle. 

Lucy  laid  her  right  hand  on  the  pommel  and  resigned 
her  left  foot :  Mr.  Talboys  put  his  hand  under  that  foot, 
and  heaved  her  smoothly  into  the  saddle.  "That  is 
clever,"  thought  simple  David ;  "  that  chap  has  got  more 
pith  in  his  arm  than  one  would  think."  They  cantered 
away  and  left  him  looking  sadly  after  them.  It  seemed 
so  hard  that  another  man  should  have  her  sweet  foot  in 
his  hand,  should  lift  her  whole  glorious  person,  and 
smooth  her  sacred  dress,  and  he  stand  by  helpless ;  and 
then  the  indifference  with  which  that  man  had  done  it 
all.  To  him  it  had  been  no  sacred  pleasure,  no  great 
privilege.  A  sense  of  loneliness  struck  chill  on  David 
as  the  clatter  of  her  pony's  hoofs  died  away.  He  was 
in  the  house ;  but  in  that  house  was  a  kind  of  inner 
circle,  of  which  she  was  the  centre,  and  he  was  to  be 
outside  it  altogether. 

Liable  to  great  wrath  upon  great  occasions,  he  had 
little  6f  that  small  irritability  that  goes  with  an  egotisti- 
cal mind  and  a  feminine  fibre.  So  he  merely  hung  his 
head,  blamed  nobody,  and  was  a  little  sad  in  a  manly 
way.  While  he  leaned  against  the  portico  in  this 
dejected  mood,  a  little  hand  pulled  his  coat-tail.  It  was 
Master  Eeginald,  who  looked  up  in  his  face  and  said, 
timidly,  "  Will  you  play  with  me  ?  "  The  fact  is,  Mr. 
Eeginald's  natural  audacity  had  received  a  momentary 
check.  He  had  just  put  this  same  question  to  Mr. 
Hardie  in  the  library,  and  been  rejected  with  ignominy, 
and  recommended  to  go  out  of  doors  for  his  own  health 
and  the  comfort  of  such  as  desired  peaceable  study  of 
British  and  Foreign  intelligence. 


2.68      LOVE  ME  IJTTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"Tliat  I  will,  ray  little  gentleman,"  said  David,  "ii.  I 
know  the  game." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  care  what  it  is,  so  that  it  is  fun  —  what 
is  your  name  ?  " 

"  David  Dodd." 

''  Oh ! " 

"  And  what  is  yours  ?  " 

''  What !  don't  —  you  —  knoAV  ?  Why,  Eeginald  George 
Bazalgette.  I  am  seven.  I  am  the  eldest.  I  am  to 
have  more  money  than  the  others  when  papa  dies,  Jane 
says.     I  wonder  when  he  will  die." 

"When  he  does  you  will  lose  his  love,  and  that  is 
worth  more  than  his  money :  so  you  take  ray  advice;  and 
love  him  dearly  while  you  have  got  him." 

"Oh,  I  like  papa  very  well.  He  is  good-natured  all 
day  long.  Mamma  is  so  ill-tempered  till  dinner,  and 
then  they  won't  let  me  dine  with  her :  and  then  as  soon 
as  mamma  has  begun  to  be  good-tempered  up-stairs  in 
the  drawing-room,  ray  bedtime  comes  directly :  it's  abom- 
inable ! "  The  last  word  rose  into  a  squeak  under  his 
sense  of  wrong. 

David  smiled  kindly.  "  So  it  seems  we  all  have  our 
troubles,"  said  he. 

"  What !  have  you  any  troubles  ?  "  and  Reginald  opened 
his  eyes  in  wonder.  He  thought  size  was  an  armor 
against  care. 

"  Not  so  many  as  most  folk,  thank  God !  but  I  have 
some,"  and  David  sighed. 

"Why,  if  I  was  as  big  as  you,  I'd  have  no  troubles. 
I'd  beat  everybody  that  troubled  rae,  and  I  would  raarry 
Lucy  directly ; "  and  at  that  beloved  name  ray  lord  falls 
into  a  reverie  ten  seconds  long. 

David  gave  a  start,  a.nd  an  ejaculation  rose  to  his  lips. 
He  looked  down   with  comical   horror  upon   the  little- 
chubby  imp,  A\'ho  had  divined  his  thought. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  209 

Mr.  Keginald  soon  undeceived  him.  "  She  is  to  be  my 
wife,  you  know.  Don't  you  thiid<;  she  will  make  a  capi- 
tal one  ?  "  Before  David  could  decide  this  point  for  him, 
the  kaleidoscopic  mind  of  the  terrible  infant  had  taken 
another  turn.  "  Come  into  the  stable-yard ;  I'll  show 
you  Tom ! "  cried  young  master,  enthusiastically.  Finally, 
David  had  to  make  the  boy  a  kite.  When  made,  it  took 
two  hours  for  the  paste  to  dry :  and  as  every  ten  minutes 
spent  in  waiting  seemed  an  hour  to  one  of  Mr.  Eeginald's 
kidney,  as  the  English  classics  phrase  it,  he  was  almost 
in  a  state  of  frenzy  at  last,  and  flew  his  new  kite  with 
yells.  But  after  a  bit  he  missed  a  familiar  incident : 
"  It  doesn't  tumble  down ;  my  other  kites  all  tumble 
down." 

"More  shame  for  them,"  said  David,  with  a  dash  of 
contempt,  and  explained  to  him  that  tumbling  down  is  a 
flaw  in  a  kite,  just  as  foundering  at  sea  is  a  vile  habit  in 
a  ship,  and  that  each  of  these  descents,  however  pictur- 
esque to  childhood's  eye,  implies  a  construction  originally 
defective,  or  some  little  subsequent  mismanagement.  It 
appeared  by  Reginald's  reply  that  when  his  kite  tumbled, 
he  had  the  tumultuous  joy  of  flying  it  again ;  but,  by  its 
keeping  the  air  like  this,  monotony  reigned.  So  he  now 
proposed  that  his  new  friend  should  fasten  the  string  to 
the  pump-handle,  and  play  at  ball  with  him  beneath  the 
kite.  The  good-natured  sailor  consented ;  and  thus  the 
little  voluptuary  secured  a  terrestrial  and  ever-varying 
excitement,  while  occasional  glances  upwards  soothed 
him  with  the  mild  consciousness  that  there  was  his 
property  still  hovering  in  the  empyrean.  Amidst  all 
which,  poor  love-sick  David  was  seized  with  a  desire  to 
hear  the  name  of  her  he  loved,  and  her  praise,  even  from 
these  small  lips.  "  So  you  are  very  fond  of  Miss  Lucy  ?  " 
said  he. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Reginald,  dryly,  and  said  no  more :  for 


270      LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

it  is  a  cliaraeteristic  of  the  awfu'  bairn  to  be  mute  where 
fluency  is  required,  vohible  where  silence. 

"I  Avonder  why  you  love  her  so  much,"  said  David, 
cunningly.  Eeginald's  face,  instead  of  brightening  with 
the  spirit  of  explanation,  became  instantly  lack-lustre 
and  dough-like ;  for,  be  it  known  to  the  everlasting  dis- 
credit of  human  nature,  that  his  affection  and  matrimo- 
nial intentions,  as  they  were  no  secret,  so  they  were  the 
butt  of  satire  from  grown-up  persons  of  both  sexes  in 
the  house,  and  of  various  social  grades :  down  to  the 
very  gardener,  all  had  had  a  fling  at  him.  But  soon  his 
natural  cordiality  gained  the  better  of  that  momentary 
reserve. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  said  he,  "because  you  have 
behaved  well  all  day." 

David  was  all  expectation. 

"  I  like  her  because  she  has  got  red  cheeks,  and  does 
whatever  one  asks  her." 

Oh,  breadth  of  statement !  Why  was  not  David  one 
of  your  repeaters  ?  he  would  have  gone  and  told  Lucy : 
I  should  have  liked  her  to  know  in  what  grand  primitive 
colors  peach-bloom  and  queenly  courtesy  strike  what  Mr. 
Tennyson  is  pleased  to  call  "the  deep  mind  of  dauntless 
infancy."  But  David  Dodd  was  not  a  reporter,  and  so  I 
don't  get  my  way ;  and  how  few  of  us  do ;  not  even  Mr. 
Reginald,  whose  joyous  companionship  Avith  David  Avas 
now  blighted  by  a  footman.  At  sight  of  the  plush 
approaching,  "  There  now  ! "  cried  Reginald.  He  antici- 
pated evil;  for  messages  from  the  ruling  poAvers  Avere 
nearly  always  adverse  to  his  joys.  The  footman  came 
to  say  that  his  master  Avould  feel  obliged  if  Mr.  Dodd 
Avould  step  into  liis  study  for  a  minute. 

David  Avent  immediately. 

"  There,  noAv  ! "  squeaked  Reginald,  rising  an  octave. 
"I'm  ncA'er  happy  for  tAvo  hours  together."     This  Avas 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  271 

true.  He  omitted  to  add  "nor  unhappy  for  one;"  the 
dear  child  sought  comfort  in  change  of  occupation ;  he 
took  stones  and  pelted  the  footman's  retiring  calves. 
His  admirers,  if  any,  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  this  act 
of  intelligent  retribution  soothed  his  deep  mind  more 
or  less. 

Mr.  Bazalgette  had  been  much  interested  by  David's 
conversation  the  last  night,  and  hearing  he  was  not  with 
the  riding-party,  had  a  mind  to  chat  with  him.  David 
found  him  in  a  magnificent  study  lined  with  books,  and 
hung  with  beautiful  maps  that  lurked  in  mahogany 
cylinders  attached  to  the  wall ;  and  you  pulled  them  out 
by  inserting  a  brass-hooked  stick  into  their  rings,  and 
hauling.  Mr.  Bazalgette  began  by  putting  him  a  ques- 
tion about  a  distant  port  to  which  he  had  just  sent  out 
some  goods.  David  gave  him  full  information :  began, 
seaman-iike,  with  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  and  told 
him  what  danger  his  captain  should  look  out  for  in  run- 
ning in,  and  how  to  avoid  it ;  and  from  that  went  to  the 
character  of  the  natives,  their  tricks  upon  the  sailors, 
their  habits,  tastes,  and  fancies,  and,  entering  with  intel- 
ligence into  his  companion's  business,  gave  him  some 
very  shrewd  hints  as  to  the  sort  of  cargo  that  would 
tempt  them  to  sell  the  very  rings  out  of  their  ears. 
Succeeding  so  well  in  this,  Mr.  Bazalgette  plied  him  on 
other  points,  and  found  him  full  of  valuable  matter,  and, 
by  a  rare  union  of  qualities,  very  modest,  and  very 
frank.  "Now  I  like  this,"  said  Mr.  Bazalgette,  cheer- 
fully. "  This  is  a  return  to  old  customs.  A  century  or 
two  ago,  you  know,  the  merchant  and  the  captain  felt 
themselves  part  of  the  same  stick :  and  they  used  to  sit 
and  smoke  together  before  a  voyage,  and  sup  together 
after  one,  and  be  always  putting  their  heads  together. 
But  of  late  the  stick  has  got  so  much  longer,  and  so 
many  knots  between  the  handle  and  the  point,  that  we 


272  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

have  quite  lost  sight  of  one  another.  Here  we  mer- 
chants sit  at  home  at  ease,  and  send  you  line  fellows  out 
amongst  storms  and  waves,  and  think  more  of  a  bale  of 
cotton  spoiled  than  of  a  captain  drowned." 

David.  "And  we  eat  your  bread,  sir,  as  if  it  dropped 
from  the  clouds :  and  quite  forget  whose  money  and 
spirit  of  enterprise  causes  the  ship  to  be  laid  on  the 
stocks,  and  then  built,  and  then  rigged,  and  then 
launched,  and  then  manned,  and  then  sailed  from  port 
to  port." 

"Well,  well,  if  you  eat  our  bread,  we  eat  your  labor, 
your  skill,  your  courage,  and  sometimes  your  lives,  I  am 
sorry  to  say.  Merchants  and  cajDtains  ought  really  to  be 
better  acquainted." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  David,  "  now  you  mention  it,  you  are 
the  first  merchant  of  any  consequence  I  ever  had  the 
advantage  of  talking  with." 

"  The  advantage  is  mutual,  sir ;  you  have  given  me 
one  or  tAvo  hints  I  could  not  have  got  from  fifty  mer- 
chants :  I  mean  to  coin  you.  Captain  Dodd." 

David  laughed,  and  blushed.  "I  doubt  it  will  be  but 
copper  coin,  if  you  do.  But  I  am  not  a  captain,  I  am 
only  first  mate." 

"  You  don't  say  so  ?     Why,  how  comes  that  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  I  went  to  sea  very  young ;  but  I  wasted  a 
year  or  two  in  private  ventures.  When  I  say  wasted,  I 
picked  up  a  heap  of  knowledge  that  I  could  not  have 
gained  on  the  China  voyage,  but  it  has  lost  me  a  little 
in  length  of  standing ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  I  have 
been  very  lucky  :  it  is  not  every  one  that  gets  to  be  first 
mate  at  my  age ;  and  after  next  voyage,  if  I  can  only 
make  a  little  bit  of  interest  I  think  I  shall  be  a  captain. 
No,  sir,  I  wish  I  was  a  captain !  I  never  wished  it  as 
now ; "  and  David  sighed  deeply. 

"  Humph,"  said  Mr.  Bazalgette,  and  took  a  note. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  273 

He  then  showed  David  his  maps.  David  inspected 
them  with  almost  boyish  delight,  and  showed  the  mer- 
chant the  courses  of  ships  on  eastern  and  western 
voyages,  and  explained  the  winds  and  currents  that  com- 
pelled them  to  go  one  road  and  return  another,  and  in 
both  cases  to  go  so  wonderfully  out  of  what  seems  the 
track  as  they  do.  Bref,  the  two  ends  of  the  mercantile 
stick  got  nearer  and  nearer. 

"My  study  is  always  open  to  you,  Mr.  Dodd,  and  I 
hojDe  you  will  not  let  a  day  pass  without  obliging  me  by 
looking  in  upon  me." 

David  thanked  him,  and  went  out  innocently  uncon- 
scious that  he  had  performed  an  unparalleled  feat. 

In  the  hall  he  met  Captain  Kenealy,  who,  having 
received  orders  to  amuse  liim,  invited  him  to  play  at 
billiards.  David  consented  out  of  good-nature  to  please 
Kenealy.  Thus  the  whole  day  passed,  and  les  facheux 
would  not  let  him  get  a  word  with  Lucy. 

At  dinner  he  was  separated  from  her,  and  so  hotly 
and  skilfully  engaged  by  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  that  he  had 
scarcely  time  to  look  at  his  idol.  After  dinner  he  had 
to  contest  her  with  Mr.  Talboys  and  Mr.  Hardie  ;  the 
latter  of  whom  he  found  a  very  able  and  sturdy  antag- 
onist. Mr.  Hardie  had  also  many  advantages  over  him. 
First,  the  young  lady  was  not  the  least  shy  with  Mr. 
Hardie,  but  the  parting  scene  beyond  Royston  had  put 
her  on  her  guard  against  David,  and  her  instinct  of 
defence  made  her  reserved  with  him.  Secondly,  Mrs, 
Bazalgette  was  perpetually  making  diversions,  whose 
double  object  was  to  get  David  to  herself,  and  leave 
Lucy  to  Mr.  Hardie. 

With  all  this  David  found,  to  his  sorrow,  that  though 

he  now  lived  under  the  same  roof  with  her,  he  was  not  so 

near  her  as  at  Font  Abbey.     There  was  a  wall  of  etiquette, 

and  of  rivals,  and,  as  he  now  began  to  fear,  of  her  own 

18 


274  LOVE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

dislike,  between  them.  To  read  through  that  mighty 
transparent  jewel  a  female  heart,  Kauta  had  recourse  to 
—  what  do  you  think  ?  to  arithmetic.  He  set  to  work 
to  count  how  many  times  she  S2:>oke  to  each  of  the  party 
in  the  drawing-room :  and  he  found  that  Mr,  Hardie 
was  at  the  head  of  the  list,  and  he  was  at  the  bottom. 
That  might  be  an  accident ;  perhaps  this  was  his  black 
evening.  So  he  counted  her  speeches  the  next  evening : 
the  result  was  the  same.  Droll  statistics !  but  sad  and 
convincing  to  the  simple  David ;  his  spirits  failed  him ; 
his  aching  heart  turned  cold.  He  withdreAv  from  the 
gay  circle,  and  sat  sadly  with  a  book  of  prints  before 
him,  and  turned  the  leaves  listlessly.  In  a  pause  of  the 
conversation  a  sigh  was  heard  in  the  corner.  They  all 
looked  round,  and  saw  David  all  by  himself,  turning 
over  the  leaves,  and  evidently  not  inspecting  them. 

A  flash  of  satirical  cviriosity  went  from  eye  to  eye. 

But  tact  abounded  at  one  end  of  the  room,  if  there 
was  a  dearth  of  it  at  the  other. 

"ia  7'iisee  sans  le  savolr"  made  a  sign  to  them  all  to 
take  no  notice,  contemporaneously  she  whispered,  "  Going 
to  sea  in  a  few  days,  for  two  years ;  the  thought  will 
return  now  and  then."  Having  said  this  with  a  look  at 
her  aunt,  that.  Heaven  knows  how,  gave  the  other  the 
notion  that  it  was  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette  she  owed  the  solu- 
tion of  David's  fit  of  sadness,  she  glided  easily  into  in- 
different topics.  So  then  the  others  had  a  momentary 
feeling  of  pity  for  David.  Miss  Lucy  noticed  this  out 
of  the  tail  of  her  eye. 

That  night  David  went  to  bed  thoroughly  wretched. 
He  could  not  sleep.  So  he  got  up  and  paced  the  deck  of 
his  room  with  a  heavy  heart.  At  last  in  his  despair  he 
said,  "I'll  fire  signals  of  distress."  So  he  sat  down  and 
took  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  fired :  "  Nothing  has  turned 
as  I  expected.     She  treats  me  like  a  stranger.     I  seem  to 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  275 

drop  astern,  instead  of  making  any  way.  Here  are  three 
of  ns,  I  do  believe ;  and  all  seem  preferred  to  your  poor 
brother :  and  indeed  the  only  thing  that  gives  me  any 
hope  is  that  she  seems  too  unkind  to  be  in  earnest :  for 
it  is  not  in  her  angelic  nature  to  be  really  unkind;  and 
what  have  I  done  ?  Eve  dear,  such  a  change  from  what 
she  was  at  Font  Abbey,  and  that  happy  evening  when 
she  came  and  drank  tea  with  us,  and  lighted  our  little 
garden  up,  and  won  your  heart  that  was  always  a  little 
set  against  her.  Now  it  is  so  different  that  I  sit  and  ask 
myself  whether  all  that  is  not  a  dream.  Can  any  one 
change  so  in  one  short  month  ?  I  could  not.  But  who 
knows,  perhaps  I  do  her  wrong :  you  know  I  never  could 
read  her  at  home,  without  your  help,  and,  dear  Eve,  I 
miss  you  now  from  my  side  most  sadly.  Without  you 
I  seem  to  be  adrift  without  rudder  or  compass." 

Then,  as  he  could  not  sleep,  he  dressed  himself,  and 
went  out  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning :  he  roamed 
about  with  a  heavy  heart :  at  last  he  bethought  him  of 
his  fiddle ;  since  Lucy's  departure  from  Eont  Abbey  this 
had  been  a  great  solace  to  him.  It  was  at  once  a 
depository  and  vent  to  him ;  he  poured  out  his  heart  to 
it,  and  by  it:  sometimes  he  would  fancy,  while  he  played, 
that  he  was  describing  the  beauties  of  her  mind  and  per- 
son ;  at  others,  regretting  the  sad  fate  that  separated 
him  from  her;  or,  hope  reviving,  would  see  her  near 
him,  and  be  telling  her  how  he  loved  her,  and  so  great 
an  inspirer  is  love,  he  had  invented  more  than  one  clear 
melody  during  the  last  month,  he  who  up  to  that  time 
had  been  content  to  render  the  thoughts  of  others,  like 
most  fiddlers  —  and  composers. 

So  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  had  better  not  play  in  the 
house,  or  I  shall  wake  them  out  of  their  first  sleep." 
He  brought  out  his  violin  ;  got  amongst  some  trees  near 
the  stable-yard,  and  tried  to  soothe  his  sorrowfu)  heart. 


276  LOVE   ME   LTTTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

He  played  sadly,  sweetly,  and  dreamingly.  He  bade  the 
magic  shell  tell  all  the  world  how  lonely  he  was ;  only 
the  magic  shell  told  it  so  tenderly  and  tunefully  that  he 
soon  ceased  to  be  alone.  The  first  arrival  was  on  four 
legs  :  Pepper,  a  terrier  witli  a  taste  for  sounds.  Pepper 
arrived  cautiously,  though  in  a  state  of  profound  curiosity, 
and  being  too  wise  to  trust  at  once  to  his  ears,  avenue  of 
sense  by  which  we  are  all  so  much  oftener  deceived 
than  by  any  other,  he  first  smelt  the  musician  carefully 
and  minutely  all  round.  Wliat  he  learned  by  this,  he 
and  his  Creator  alone  knew  ;  but  apparently  something 
reassuring;  for  as  soon  as  he  had  thoroughly  snuffed  his 
Orpheus,  he  took  up  a  position  exactly  opposite  him, 
sat  up  liigh  on  his  tail,  cocked  his  nose  well  into  the  air, 
and  accompanied  the  violin  with  such  vocal  powers  as 
nature  had  bestowed  on  him.  Nor  did  the  sentiment 
lose  anything,  in  intensity  at  all  events,  by  the  vocalist. 
If  David's  strains  were  plaintive.  Pepper's  were  lugu- 
brious :  and,  what  may  seem  extraordinary,  so  long  as 
David  played  softly,  the  Cerberus  of  the  stable-yard 
whined  musically,  and  tolerably  in  tune :  but  when  he 
played  loud  or  fast,  poor  Pepper  got  excited,  and,  in  his 
wild  endeavors  to  equal  the  violin,  vented  dismal  and  dis- 
cordant howls  at  unpleasantly  short  intervals.  All  this 
attracted  David's  attention,  and  he  soon  found  he  could 
play  upon  Pepper  as  well  as  the  fiddle,  raising  him  and 
subduing  him  by  turns ;  only,  like  the  ocean.  Pepper  was 
not  to  be  lulled  back  to  his  musical  ripple  quite  so 
quickly  as  he  could  be  lashed  into  howling  frenzy. 
While  David  was  thus  playing,  and  Pepper  showing  a 
fearful  broadside  of  ivory  teeth,  and  flinging  up  his 
nose  and  sympathizing  loudly,  and  with  a  long  face, 
though  not  perhaps  so  deeply  as  he  looked,  suddenly 
rang  behind  David  a  chorus  of  human  chuckles.  David 
wheeled,  and  there  were  six  young  women's  faces  set  in 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  277 

the  foliage  aiul  laughing  merrily.  Though  perfectly 
aware  that  David  would  look  round,  they  seemed  quite 
taken  by  surprise  when  he  did  look  round,  and  with 
military  j^recision  became  instantly  two  hies :  for  the 
four  impudent  ones  ran  behind  the  two  modest  ones,  and 
there  by  an  innocent  instinct  tied  their  cap-strings, 
which  were  previously  floating  loose,  their  custom  even 
in  the  early  morning. 

"  Play  us  something  merry,  sir/'  hazarded  one  of  the 
mock-modest  ones  in  the  rear. 

"  Shan't  I  be  taking  you  from  your  work  ?  "  objected 
David,  dryly. 

"Oh!  all  work  and  no  play  is  bad  for  the  body," 
replied  the  minx,  keeping  ostentatiously  out  of  sight. 

Good-natured  David  played  a  merry  tune  in  spite  of 
his  heart :  and  even  at  that  disadvantage  it  was  so 
spirit-stirring  compared  with  anything  the  servants  had 
heard,  that  it  made  them  all  frisky,  of  which  disposi- 
tion Tom  the  stable-boy,  who  just  then  came  into  the 
yard,  took  advantage,  and  leading  out  one  of  the  house- 
maids by  the  polite  process  of  hauling  at  her  with  both 
hands,  proceeded  to  country-dancing,  in  which  the  others 
soon  demurely  joined. 

Now  all  this  was  wormwood  to  poor  David:  for,  to 
play  merriment  when  the  heart  is  too  heavy  to  be  cheered 
by  it,  makes  that  heart  bitter  as  well  as  sad.  But  the 
good-natured  fellow  said  to  himself,  "  Poor  things,  I  dare 
say  they  work  from  morning  till  night,  and  seldom  see 
pleasure  but  at  a  distance  ;  why  not  put  on  a  good  face, 
and  give  them  one  merry  hour  ?  "  So  he  played  horn- 
pipes and  reels  till  all  their  hearts  were  on  fire,  and 
faces  red,  and  eyes  glittering,  and  legs  aching,  and  he 
himself  felt  ready  to  burst  out  crying,  and  then  he  left 
off.  As  for  il-jjenseroso  Pepper,  he  took  this  intrusion  of 
merry  music   upon   his   sympathies   very  ill.     He   left 


278      LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

singing,  and  barked  furiously  and  incessantly  at  these 
ancient  English  melodies,  and  at  the  dancers ;  and  kept 
running  from,  and  running  at,  the  women's  whirling 
gowns  alternately,  and  lost  his  mental  balance,  and  at 
last,  having,  by  a  happier  snap  than  usual,  torn  off  two 
feet  of  the  under-housemaid's  frock,  shook  and  worried 
the  fragment  with  insane  snarls  and  gleaming  eyes,  and 
so  zealously  that  his  existence  seemed  to  depend  on  its 
annihilation. 

David  gave  those  he  had  brightened  a  sad  smile,  and 
went  hastily  in-doors.  He  put  his  violin  into  its  case, 
and  sealed  and  directed  his  letter  to  Eve.  He  could  not 
rest  in-doors.  So  he  roamed  out  again ;  but  this  time 
he  took  care  to  go  on  the  lawn.  Nobody  would  come 
there,  he  thought,  to  interrupt  his  melancholy.  He  was 
doomed  to  be  disappointed  in  that  respect.  As  he  sat  in 
the  little  summer-house  with  his  head  on  the  table,  he 
suddenly  heard  an  elastic  step  on  the  dry  gravel.  He 
started  peevishly  up  and  saw  a  lady  walking  briskly 
towards  him.     It  was  Miss  Fountain. 

She  saw  him  at  the  same  instant.  She  hesitated  a 
single  half  moment,  then,  as  escape  was  impossible, 
resumed  her  course.     David  went  bashfully  to  meet  her. 

"  Good-morning,  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  she  in  tlie  most  easy 
unembarrassed  way  imaginable. 

He  stammered  a  "  good-morning,"  and  flushed  with 
pleasure  and  confusion. 

He  walked  by  her  side  in  silence.  She  stole  a  look  at 
him,  and  saw  that  after  the  first  blush  at  meeting  her, 
he  was  pale  and  haggard.  On  this  she  dashed  into  singu- 
larly easy  and  cheerful  conversation  with  him,  told  him 
that  this  morning  walk  was  her  custom,  "  my  substitute 
for  rouge,  you  know.  I  am  always  the  first  up  in  this 
languid  house ;  but  I  must  not  boast  before  you,  who  I 
dare  say  turn  out  —  is  not  that  the  word  ?  —  at  daybreak. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  279 

But  now  I  think  of  it  —  no  !  you  would  have  crossed  my 
hawse  before,  Mr.  Dodd,"  using  naval  phrases  to  flatter 
him. 

"  It  was  my  ill  luck :  I  always  cruised  a  mile  off.  I 
had  no  idea  this  bit  of  gravel  was  your  quarter-deck." 

"  It  is,  though,  because  it  is  always  dry.  You  would 
not  like  a  quarter-deck  with  that  character,  would  you  ?  " 

''  Oh,  yes,  I  should.  I'd  have  my  bowsprit  always  wet, 
and  my  quarter-deck  always  dry.  But  it  is  no  use  wish- 
ing for  what  we  cannot  have." 

"  That  is  very  true,"  said  Lucy  quietly. 

David  reflected  on  his  own  words,  and  sighed  deeply. 

This  did  not  suit  Lucy.  She  plied  him  with  airy 
nothings,  that  no  man  can  arrest  and  impress  on  paper  ; 
but  the  tone  and  smile  made  them  pleasing ;  and  then 
she  asked  his  opinion  of  the  other  guests,  in  such  a  way 
as  implied  she  took  some  interest  in  his  opinion  on  them, 
but  mighty  little  in  the  people  themselves.  In  short,  she 
chatted  with  him  like  an  old  friend,  and  nothing  more ; 
but  David  was  not  subtle  enough  in  general,  nor  just  now 
calm  enough,  to  see  on  what  footing  all  this  cordiality 
was  offered  him.  His  color  came  back,  his  eye  bright- 
ened, happiness  beamed  on  his  face ;  and  the  lady  saw  it 
from  under  her  lashes. 

''How  fortunate  I  fell  in  with  you  here.  You  are 
yourself  again,  —  on  your  quarter-deck.  I  scarce  knew 
you  the  last  few  days.  I  was  afraid  I  had  offended  you. 
You  seemed  to  avoid  me." 

"Nonsense,  Mr.  Dodd!  what  is  there  about  you  to 
avoid  ?  " 

"  Plenty,  Miss  Fountain,  I  am  so  inferior  to  your  other 
friends." 

"  I  was  not  aware  of  it,  Mr.  Dodd." 

"And  I  have  heard  your  sex  has  gusts  of  caprice,  and 
I  thought  the  cold  wind  was  blowing  upon  me  ;  and  that 


280  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

did  seem  very  sad,  just  when  I  am  going  out,  and  per- 
haps shall  never  see  your  sweet  face  or  hear  your  lovely 
voice  again." 

'•  Don't  say  that,  Mr.  Dodd !  or  you  will  make  me  sad 
in  earnest.  Your  prudence  and  courage,  and  a  kind 
Providence,  will  carry  you  safe  through  this  voyage,  as 
they  have  through  so  many,  and  on  your  return  the  ac- 
quaintance you  do  me  the  honor  to  value  so  highly  will 
await  you  —  if  it  depends  on  me." 

All  this  was  said  kindly  and  beautifully,  and  almost 
tenderly,  but  still  with  a  certain  majesty  that  forbade 
love-making :  rendered  it  scarce  possible,  except  to  a 
fool.  But  David  was  not  captious.  He  could  not,  like 
the  philosopher,  sift  sunshine.  For  some  days  he  had 
been  almost  separated  from  her.  Now  she  was  by  his 
side.  He  adored  her  so,  that  he  could  no  longer  realize 
sorrow  or  disappointment  to  come.  They  were  uncer- 
tain—  future.  The  light  of  her  eyes,  and  voice,  and 
face,  and  noble  presence  were  here  :  he  basked  in  them. 

He  told  her  not  to  mind  a  word  he  had  said  :  "  It  was 
all  nonsense.     I  am  happy  now  :  happier  than  ever." 

At  this  Lucy  looked  grave,  and  became  silent. 

David,  to  amuse  her,  told  her  there  was  "  a  singing 
dog  abroad,"  and  would  she  like  to  hear  him  ?  " 

This  was  a  happy  diversion  for  Lucy.  She  assented 
gayly.  David  ran  for  his  fiddle,  and  then  for  Pepper. 
Pepper  wagged  his  tail,  but,  strong  as  his  musical  taste 
was,  would  not  follow  the  liddle.  But  at  this  juncture 
Master  Eeginald  dawned  on  the  stable-yard  with  a  huge 
slice  of  bread  and  butter.  Pepper  followed  him.  So 
the  party  came  on  the  lawn,  and  joined  Lucy.  Then 
David  played  on  the  violin,  and  Pepper  performed  ex- 
actly as  hereinbefore  related.  Lucy  laughed  merrily, 
and  Eeginald  shrieked  with  delight ;  for  the  vocal  terrier 
was  mortal  droll. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  281 

"But,  setting  Pepper  aside,  that  is  a  very  sweet  air 
you  are  playing  now,  Mr.  Dodd.  It  is  full  of  soul  and 
feeling." 

"Is  it?"  said  David,  looking  wonder-struck;  "you 
know  best." 

"  Who  is  the  composer  ?  " 

David  looked  confused,  and  said,  "  No  one  of  any  note." 

Lucy  shot  a  glance  at  him,  keen  as  lightning.  What 
with  David's  simplicity,  and  her  own  remarkable  talent 
for  reading  faces,  his  countenance  was  a  book  to  her, 
wide  open,  Bible  print.  "  The  composer's  name  is  Mr. 
Dodd,"  said  she  quietly. 

"  I  little  thought  you  would  be  satisfied  with  it," 
replied  David,  obliquely. 

"  Then  you  doubt  my  judgment  as  well  as  your  own 
talent." 

"  My  talent !  I  should  never  have  composed  an  air  that 
would  bear  playing,  but  for  one  thing." 

"  And  what  was  that  ?  "  said  Lucy,  affecting  vast  curi- 
osity. She  felt  herself  on  safe  ground  now,  —  the  fine 
arts. 

"You  remember  when  you  went  away  from  Font 
Abbey,  and  left  us  all  so  heavy-hearted." 

"  I  remember  leaving  Font  Abbey,"  replied  Lucy  with 
saucy  emphasis,  and  an  air  of  lofty  disbelief  in  the  other 
incident. 

"  Well,  I  used  to  get  my  fiddle  and  think  of  you  so 
far  away,  and  sweet  sad  airs  came  to  my  heart,  and  from 
my  heart  they  passed  into  the  fiddle.  Now  and  then  one 
seemed  more  worthy  of  you  than  the  rest  were,  and  then 
I  kept  that  one." 

"  You  mean  you  took  the  notes  down,"  said  Lucy 
coldly. 

"  Oh,  no  !  there  was  no  need,  I  wrote  in  my  head,  and 
in  my  heart.  ]\Iay  I  play  yon  another  of  your  tunes  ? 
I  call  them  your  tunes." 


282  LOVE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LOKG. 

Lucy  blushed  faintly,  and  fixed  her  eyes  on  the 
ground.  She  gave  a  slight  signal  of  assent,  and  David 
played  a  melody. 

"  It  is  very  beautiful,"  said  she  in  a  low  voice.  "  Play 
it  again.     Can  you  play  it  as  we  walk  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes."  He  played  it  again.  They  drew  near  the 
hall  door.  She  looked  up  a  moment,  and  then  demurely 
down  again. 

"Now  will  you  be  so  good  as  to  play  the  first  one 
twice  ? "  She  listened  with  her  eyelashes  drooping. 
"  Tweedle-dee  !  tweedle-dum  !  tweedle-dee."  "  And  now 
we  will  go  in  to  breakfast,"  cried  Lucy  with  sudden 
cheerfulness,  and,  almost  with  the  word,  she  darted  up 
the  steps,  and  entered  the  house  without  even  looking  to 
see  whether  David  followed  or  what  became  of  him. 

He  stood  gazing  through  the  open  door  at  her  as  she 
glided  across  the  hall,  swift  and  elastic,  yet  serpentine, 
and  graceful  and  stately  as  Juno  at  nineteen. 

"  Et  vera  incessu  patuit  lady." 

These  Junones,  severe  in  youthful  beauty,  fill  us  Davids 
with  irrational  awe  ;  but,  the  next  moment,  they  are 
treated  like  small  children  by  the  very  first  matron  they 
meet:  they  resign  their  judgment  at  once  to  hers,  and 
bow  their  wills  to  her  lightest  word,  with  a  slavish 
meanness. 

Creation's  unmarried  lords,  realize  your  true  position, 
—  girls  govern  you,  and  wives  govern  girls. 

]\Irs.  Bazalgette,  on  Lucy's  entrance,  ran  a  critical  eye 
over  her,  and  scolded  her  like  a  six-year-old  for  walking 
in  thin  shoes. 

"  Only  on  the  gravel,  aunt,"  said  the  divine  slave,  sub- 
missively. 

"  No  matter  ;  it  rained  last  night.  I  heard  it  patter. 
You  want  to  be  laid  uj),  I  suppose." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  283 

"I  will  put  on  thicker  ones  in  future,  dear  aunt,"  mur- 
mured the  celestial  serf. 

Now  Mrs.  Bazalgette  did  not  really  care  a  button 
whether  the  servile  angel  wore  thick  soles  or  thin.  She 
was  cross  about  something  a  mile  off  that.  As  soon  as 
she  had  vented  her  ill-humor  on  a  sham  caiise,  she  came 
to  its  real  cause  good-temperedly.  "  And  Lucy,  love,  do 
manage  better  about  Mr.  Dodd." 

Lucy  turned  scarlet.  Luckily  Mrs.  Bazalgette  was 
evading  her  niece's  eye,  so  did  not  see  her  tell-tale 
cheek. 

"  He  was  quite  thrown  out  last  night ;  and  really,  as 
he  does  not  ride  with  us,  it  is  too  bad  to  neglect  him 
in-doors." 

"  Oh,  excuse  me,  aunt,  Mr.  Dodd  is  your  i^oteye.  You 
did  not  even  tell  me  you  were  going  to  invite  him." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  that  I  certainly  did.  Poor  fellow, 
he  was  out  of  spirits  last  night." 

"  Well,  but,  aunt,  surely  you  can  put  an  admirer  in 
good  spirits  when  you  think  proper,"  said  Lucy  slyly. 

''Humph  !  I  don't  want  to  attract  too  much  attention. 
I  see  Bazalgette  watching  me,  and  I  don't  choose  to  be 
misinterpreted  myself,  or  give  my  husband  pain." 

She  said  this  with  such  dignity  that  Lucy,  who  knew 
her  regard  for  her  husband,  had  much  ado  not  to  titter. 
But  courtesy  prevailed,  and  she  said  gravely,  "  I  will  do 
whatever  you  wish  me,  only  give  me  a  hint  at  the  time  : 
a  look  will  do,  you  know." 

The  ladies  separated  :  they  met  again  at  the  breakfast- 
room  door.  Laughter  rang  merrily  inside,  and  amongst 
the  gayest  voices  was  Mr.  Dodd's.  Lucy  gave  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  an  arch  look.  "  Your  patient  seems  better ;  " 
and  they  entered  the  room,  where  sure  enough  they 
found  Mr.  Dodd  the  life  and  soul  of  the  assembled 
party. 


284  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

^'  A  letter  from  Mrs.  Wilson,  aunt." 
,  "  And  pray  who  is  Mrs.  Wilson  ?  " 

"My  nnrse.  She  tells  me  'it  is  five  years  since  she 
has  seen  me,  and  she  is  wearying  to  see  me.'  What  a 
droll  expression,  'wearying.'" 

"  Ah  ! "  said  David  Dodd. 

"  You  have  heard  the  word  before,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't  say  I  have ;  but  I  know  what  it  must 
mean." 

"  Lying  becalmed  at  the  equator,  eh,  Dodd  ?  "  said 
Bazalgette,  misunderstanding  him. 

"Mrs.  Wilson  tells  me  she  has  taken  a  farm  a  few 
miles  from  this." 

"  Interesting  intelligence,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette. 

"  And  she  says  she  is  coming  over  to  see  me  one  of 
these  days,  aunt,"  said  Lucy,  with  a  droll  expression, 
half  arch,  half  rueful.  She  added  timidly,  "  There  is  no 
objection  to  that,  is  there  ?  " 

"  None  whatever  if  she  does  not  make  a  practice  of  it ; 
only,  mind,  these  old  servants  are  the  greatest  pests  on 
earth." 

"  I  remember  now,"  said  Lucy  thoughtfully :  "  ]\Trs. 
Wilson  was  always  very  fond  of  me.  I  cannot  think 
why,  though." 

"No  more  can  I,"  said  Mr.  Hardie  dryly;  "she  must 
be  a  thoroughly  unreasonable  wc^maii." 

Mr.  Hardie  said  this  with  a  good  deal  of  grace  and 
humor  ;  and  a  laugh  went  round  the  table. 

"I  mean,  she  only  saw  me  at  intervals  of  several 
years." 

"  Why,  Lucy,  what  an  anticpiity  you  are  making  your- 
self," said  Fountain. 

But  Lucy  was  occupied  with  her  puzzle. 

"  She  calls  me  her  nursling,"  said  Lucy  sotto  voce  to 
her  aunt;  but,  of  course,  quite  audibly  to  the  rest  of  the 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  285 

company :  "  her  dear  nursling ;  and  says  she  will  walk 
fifty  miles  to  see  me,  Nursling  ?  hum  !  there  is  another 
word  I  never  heard,  and  I  do  not  exactly  know —  Then 
she  says  "  — 

"  Taisez-vous,  'petite  sotte  !  "  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  in  a 
sharp  whisper,  so  admirably  projected  that  it  was  intelli- 
gible only  to  the  ear  it  was  meant  for, 

Lucy  caught  it  and  stopped  short,  and  sat  looking  by 
main  force  calm  and  dignified,  but  scarlet,  and  in  secret 
agony.  "I  have  said  something  amiss,"  thought  Lucy, 
and  was  truly  wretched, 

"  We  don't  believe  in  Mrs,  Wilson's  affection  on  this 
side  the  table,"  said  Mr,  Hardie ;  "but  her  revelations 
interest  us,  for  they  prove  that  Miss  Fountain  had  a 
beginning ;  now  we  had  thought  she  rose  from  the  foam 
like  Venus,  or  sprung  from  Jove's  brow  like  Minerva,  or 
descended  from  some  ancient  pedestal  flawless  as  the 
Parian  itself." 

"  AVhat,  sir,"  cried  Bazalgette  furiously,  "  did  you  think 
our  niece  was  built  in  a  day,  so  fair  a  structure,  so  accom- 
plished a"  — 

"Will  you  be  quiet,  good  people?"  said  Mrs.  Bazal- 
gette, "  she  was  born,  she  was  bred,  she  was  brought  up, 
in  which  I  had  a  share,  and  she  is  a  very  good  girl  if 
you  gentlemen  will  be  so  good  as  not  to  spoil  her  for  me 
with  your  flattery," 

"There  !  "  said  Lucy,  courageously,  enforcing  her 
aunt's  thunderbolt ;  and  she  leaned  towards  Mrs,  Bazal- 
gette and  shot  back  a  glance  of  defiance,  with  arching 
neck,  at  Mr,  Bazalgette. 

After  breakfast  she  ran  to  Mrs,  Bazalgette.  "  What 
was  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  nothing ;  only  the  gentlemen  were  beginning  to 
grin." 

"  Oh,  dear !  did  I  say  anything  —  ridiculous  ?  " 


286  LOVE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"Ko,  because  I  stopped  you  iv.  time.  Mind,  Lucy,  it 
is  never  safe  to  read  letters  out  from  people  in  that  class 
of  life  ;  they  talk  about  everything,  and  use  words  that 
are  quite  out  of  date.  I  stopped  you  because  I  know 
you  are  a  simpleton,  and  so  I  could  not  tell  what  might 
pop  out  next." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  aunt !  thank  you  !  "  cried  Lucy 
warmly.     "Then  I  did  not  expose  myself  after  alL" 

"No,  no;  you  said  nothing  that  might  not  be  pro- 
claimed at  Paul's  Cross,  ha!  ha !  " 

"  Am  I  a  simpleton,  aunt  ?  "  inquired  Lucy  in  the  tone 
of  an  indifferent  person  seeking  knowledge. 

"Not  you,"  replied  this  oblivious  lady.  "You  know 
a  great  deal  more  than  most  girls  of  your  age.  To  be 
sure,  girls  that  have  been  at  a  fashionable  school  gener- 
ally manage  to  learn  one  or  two  things  you  have  no  idea 
of." 

"  Naturally." 

"  As  you  say ;  he  !  he  !  But  you  make  up  for  it,  my 
dear,  in  other  respects.  If  the  gentlemen  take  you  for  a 
pane  of  glass, — why  —  all  the  better:  meantime,  shall  I 
tell  3"ou  your  real  character  ?  I  have  only  just  discovered 
it  myself." 

"Oh,  yes,  aunt,  tell  me  my  character.  I  should  so 
like  to  hear  it  from  you." 

"  Should  you  ? "  said  the  other,  a  little  satirically ; 
"well,  then,  you  are  an  ix-nocent  fox." 

"  Aunt ! " 

"  An  innocent  fox ;  so  run  and  get  yonr  work-box.  I 
want  you  to  run  up  a  tear  in  my  flounce." 

Lucy  went  thoughtfully  for  her  work-box,  murmuring 
ruefully,  "I  am  an  innocent  fox;  I  am  an  innocent  fox." 

She  did  not  like  her  new  character  at  all ;  it  mortified 
her,  and  seemed  self-contradictory  as  well  as  derogatory. 

On    her   return    she    could    not   help   remonstrating, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  287 

"  How  can  that  be  my  character  ?  A  fox  is  cunning, 
and  I  despise  cunning ;  and  /  am  sure  I  am  not  inno- 
cent,^''  added  she,  putting  up  both  hands  and  looking  pen- 
itent. With  all  this,  a  shade  of  vexation  was  painted  on 
her  lovely  cheeks,  as  she  appealed  against  her  epigram. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  (with  the  calm  inexorable  superiority 
of  matron  despotism).  "You  are  an  innocent  fox  !  Is 
your  needle  threaded  ?  here  is  the  tear : .  no,  there.  I 
caught  against  the  flower-pot  frame,  and  I'll  vow  I  heard 
my  gown  go.     Look  lower  down,  dear.     Don't  give  it  up." 

All  Avhich  may  perhaps  remind  the  learned  and  sneer- 
ing reader  of  another  fox ;  the  one  that  "  had  a  wound, 
and  he  could  not  tell  where." 

They  rode  out  to-day  as  usual,  and  David  had  the 
equivocal  pleasure  of  seeing  them  go  from  the  door. 

Lucy  was  one  of  the  first  down,  and  put  her  hand  on 
the  saddle,  and  looked  carelessly  round  for  somebody  to 
put  her  up.  David  stepped  hastily  forward,  his  heart 
beating,  seized  her  foot,  never  waited  for  her  to  spring, 
but  went  to  work  at  once,  and  with  a  powerful  and  sus- 
tained effort  raised  her  slowly  and  carefully  like  a  dead 
weight  and  settled  her  in  the  saddle.  His  grip  hurt  her 
foot.  She  bore  it  like  a  Spartan  sooner  than  lose  the 
amusement  of  his  simplicity  and  enormous  strength,  so 
drolly  and  unnecessarily  exerted.  It  cost  her  a  little 
struggle  not  to  laugh  right  out,  but  she  turned  her  head 
away  from  him  a  moment  and  was  quit  for  a  spasm. 
Then  she  came  round  with  a  face  all  candor. 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  she  demurely ;  and  her 
eyes  danced  in  her  head.  Her  foot  felt  encircled  with 
an  iron  band,  but  she  bore  him  not  a  grain  of  malice  for 
that ;  and  away  she  cantered  followed  by  his  longing 
eyes. 

David  bore  the  separation  well.  "  To-morrow  morning 
I  shall  have  her  all  to  myself,"  said  he.     He  played  with 


288  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Kenealy  and  Reginald,  and  cliatted  with  Bazalgette.  In 
the  evening  she  was  surrounded  as  usual,  and  he  obtained 
only  a  small  share  of  her  attention.  But  the  thought  of 
the  morrow  consoled  him.  He  alone  knew  that  she 
walked  before  breakfast. 

The  next  morning  he  rose  early  and  sauntered  about 
till  eight  o'clock,  and  then  he  came  on  the  lawn  and 
Avaited  for  her.  She  did  not  come.  He  waited,  and 
waited,  and  waited.  She  never  came.  His  heart  died 
within  him.  "  She  avoids  me,"  said  he  ;  "  it  is  not  acci- 
dent. I  have  driven  her  out  of  her  very  garden;  she 
always  walked  here  before  breakfast  (she  said  so),  till  I 
came  and  spoiled  her  Avalk  :  Heaven  forgive  me." 

David  could  not  flatter  himself  that  this  interruption 
of  her  acknowledged  habit  was  accidental.  On  the  other 
hand,  how  kind  and  cheerful  she  had  been  with  him  on 
the  same  spot  yesterday  morning :  to  judge  by  her  man- 
ner his  company  on  her  quarter-deck  was  not  unwelcome 
to  her.  Yet  she  kept  her  room  to-day,  from  the  window 
of  which  she  could  probably  see  him  walking  to  and  fro, 
longing  for  her.  The  bitter  disappointment  was  bad 
enough,  but  here  tormenting  perplexity  as  to  its  cause 
was  added,  and  between  the  two  the  pining  heart  was 
racked. 

This  is  the  cruellest  separation;  mere  distance  is  tlie 
mildest.  Where  land  and  sea  alone  lie  between  two  lov- 
ing hearts,  they  pine  but  are  at  rest ;  a  piece  of  paper  and 
a  few  lines  traced  by  the  hand  that  reads  like  a  face  — 
and  the  two  sad  hearts  exult  and  embrace  one  another 
afresh  in  spite  of  a  hemisphere  of  dirt  and  salt  water, 
that  parts  bodies  but  not  minds.  But  to  be  close,  yet 
kept  aloof  by  red-hot  iron  and  chilling  ice,  by  rivals,  by 
etiquette  and  cold  indifference ;  to  be  near  yet  far  :  this 
is  to  be  apart ;  this,  this  is  separation. 

A  gush  of  rage  and  bitterness  foreign  to  his  natural 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  289 

temper  came  over  David  Dodd.  "  Since  I  cau't  have  the 
girl  I  love,  I  will  have  nobody  but  my  own  thoughts.  I 
cannot  bear  the  others  and  their  chat  to-day.  I  will  go 
and  think  of  her,  since  that  is  all  she  will  let  me  do ; " 
and  directly  after  breakfast  David  walked  out  on  the 
downs  and  made  by  instinct  for  the  sea.  The  wounded 
deer  shunned  the  lively  herd. 

The  ladies,  as  they  sat  in  the  drawing-room,  received 
visits  of  a  less  flattering  character  than  usual.  Reginald 
kept  popping  in,  inquiring,  "  Where  was  Mr.  Dodd  ? " 
and  would  not  believe  they  had  not  hid  him  somewhere. 
He  was  followed  by  Kenealy,  who  came  in  and  put  them 
but  one  question,  "  Where  is  Dawd  ?  " 

"We  don't  know,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  sharply,  "we 
have  not  been  intrusted  with  the  care  of  Mr.  Dodd." 

Kenealy  sauntered  forth  disconsolate.  "Finally  Mr. 
Bazalgette  put  his  head  in  and  surveyed  the  room 
keenly  but  in  silence ;  so  then  his  wife  looked  up  and 
asked  him  satirically  if  he  did  not  want  Mr.  Dodd. 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  was  the  gracious  reply  ;  "  Avhat  else 
should  I  come  here  for  ?  " 

"  Well,  he  is  lost ;  you  had  better  put  him  in  the  '  Hue 
and  Cry.' " 

La  Bazalgette  was  getting  jealous  of  her  own  flirtee  : 
he  attracted  too  much  of  that  attention  she  loved  so 
dear. 

At  last,  Reginald,  despairing  of  Dodd,  went  in  search 
of  another  playmate.  Master  Christmas,  a  young  gentle- 
man a  year  older  than  himself,  who  lived  within  half  a 
mile.  Before  he  went,  he  inquired  what  there  was  for 
his  dinner  ?  and  being  informed  "'  roast  mutton,"  was  not 
enraptured ;  he  then  asked  with  greater  solicitude  what 
was  the  pudding,  and  being  told  "  rice,"  betrayed  disgust 
and  anger,  as  was  remembered  when  too  late. 

At  two  o'clock,  the  day  being  fine,  the  ladies  went  for 
19 


290  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

a  long  ride,  accompanied  by  Talboys  only.  Kenealy 
excused  himself.  "He  must  see  if  he  could  not  find 
Dawd." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  started  in  a  pet ;  but,  after  the  first 
canter,  she  set  herself  to  bewitch  Mr.  Talboys,  just  to 
keep  her  hand  in ;  she  flattered  him  up  hill  and  down 
dale.     Lucy  was  silent  and  distraite. 

"  From  that  hill  you  look  right  down  upon  the  sea," 
said  Mrs.  Bazalgette  :  "  what  do  you  say  ?  it  is  only  two 
miles  further." 

On  they  cantered,  and  leaving  the  high-road,  dived 
into  a  green  lane,  which  led  them,  by  a  gradual  ascent, 
to  Mariner's  Folly,  on  the  summit  of  the  cliff.  Mari- 
ner's Follj  looked  at  a  distance  like  an  enormous  bush 
in  the  shape  of  a  lion ;  but  wlien  you  came  nearer,  you 
saw  it  was  three  remarkably  large  blackthorn-trees 
planted  together.  As  they  approached  it  at  a  walk, 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  told  Mr.  Talboys  its  legend. 

"The  trees  were  planted  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  by  a  retired  buccaneer." 

"  Aunt,  now,  it  was  only  a  lieutenant." 

"  Be  quiet,  Lucy,  and  don't  spoil  me :  I  call  him  a 
buccaneer.  Some  say  it  is  named  his  '  Folly/  because 
you  must  know  his  ghost  comes  and  sits  here  at  times, 
and  that  is  an  absurd  practice,  shivering  in  the  cold. 
Others,  more  learned,  say  it  comes  from  a  Latin  word, 
'  folio,'  or  some  such  thing,  that  means  a  leaf ;  the  mari- 
ner's leafy  screen."  She  then  added,  with  reckless  levity, 
"I  wonder  whether  we  shall  find  Buckey  on  the  other 
side  looking  at  the  ships  through  a  ghostly  telescope  — 
ha,  ha !  —  ah,  ah  !  —  help  !  —  mercy  !  forgive  me  !  Oh, 
dear,  it  is  only  Mr.  Dodd  in  his  jacket !  —  you  frightened 
me  so.  Oh,  oh  !  There  —  I  am  ill.  Catch  me,  some- 
body !  "  and  she  dropped  her  whip,  and,  seeing  David's 
eye  was  on  her,  subsided  backwards  with  considerable 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  291 

courage  and  trustfulness,  and  for  the  second  time  con- 
trived to  be  in  her  flirtee's  arms. 

I  wish  my  friend  Aristotle  had  been  there :  I  think  he 
would  have  been  pleased  at  her  uy/n'oia  in  turning  even 
her  terror  of  the  supernatural  so  quickly  to  account,  and 
making  it  subservient  to  flirtation. 

David  sat  heart-stricken  and  hopeless,  gazing  at  the 
sea.  The  hours  passed  by  his  heavy  heart  unheeded. 
The  leafy  screen  deadened  the  light  sound  of  the  horses' 
feet  on  the  turf,  and  moreover  his  senses  were  all  turned 
inwards.  They  were  upon  him,  and  he  did  not  move, 
but  still  held  his  head  in  his  hands  and  gazed  upon  the 
sea.  At  Mrs.  Bazalgette's  cries  he  started  up,  and  looked 
confusedly  at  them  all ;  but  when  she  did  the  fainting 
business,  he  thought  she  was  going  to  faint,  and  caught 
her  in  his  arms ;  and,  holding  her  in  them  a  moment,  as 
if  she  had  been  a  child,  he  deposited  her  very  gently  in 
a  sitting  posture  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the  trees,  and 
taking  her  hand,  slapped  it  to  bring  her  to. 

"  Oh,  don't !  you  hurt  me,"  cried  the  lady,  in  her 
natural  voice.     ' 

Lucy,  barbarous  girl,  never  came  to  her  aunt's  assist- 
ance :  at  the  first  fright  she  seemed  slightly  agitated, 
but  she  noAv  sat  impassive  on  her  pony,  and  even  wore 
a  satirical  smile. 

"  Kow,  dear  aunt,  when  you  have  done,  Mr.  Dodd  will 
put  you  on  your  horse  again." 

On  this  hint  David  lifted  her  like  a  child,  ynalgre  a 
little  squeak  she  thought  it  well  to  utter,  and  put  her  in 
the  saddle  again.  She  thanked  him  in  a  low  murmuring 
voice.  She  then  plied  David  with  a  host  of  questions. 
"  How  came  he  so  far  from  home  ?  "  "  Why  had  he 
deserted  them  all  day  ?  "  David  hung  his  head,  and  did 
not  answer.     Lucy  came  to  his  relief. 

"  It  would  be  as  well  if  you  would  make  him  promise 


292  LOVE   INIE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

to  be  home  in  time  for  dinner ;  and,  by  the  way,  I  had 
a  favor  to  ask  of  you,  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  A  favor  to  ask  of  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  you  know  we  all  make  demands  upon  your  good- 
nature in  turn." 

"  Tliat  is  true,"  said  La  Bazalgette,  tenderly ;  "  I  don't 
know  what  will  become  of  us  all  when  he  goes." 

Lucy  then  explained  that  the  masked  ball,  suggested 
by  Mr.  Talboys'  beautiful  dresses,  was  to  be  very  soon, 
and  she  wanted  INIr.  Dodd  to  practise  quadrilles  and 
waltzes  with  her  ;  ''  it  will  be  so  much  better  with  the 
violin  and  piano,  than  Avith  the  piano  alone,  and  you  are 
such  an  excellent  timist,  —  will  you,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

"  That  I  will,"  said  David,  his  eyes  sparkling  with 
delight,  —  "  thank  you ! " 

"  Then,  as  I  shall  practise  before  the  gentlemen  join 
us,  and  it  is  four  o'clock  now,  had  you  not  better  turn 
your  back  to  the  sea,  and  make  the  best  of  your  way 
home  ?  " 

"  I  will  be  there  almost  as  soon  as  you." 

"  Indeed ;  what,  on  foot,  and  we  on  horseback  ?  " 

"  Ay  !  but  I  can  steer  in  the  wind's  eye." 

"  Aunt,  ]Mr.  Dodd  proposes  a  race  home." 

"  With  all  my  heart.  How  much  start  are  we  to  give 
him  ?  " 

"  None  at  all,"  said  David  ;  "  are  you  ready  ?  then 
give  way,"  and  he  started  down  the  hill  at  a  killing  pace. 

The  equestrians  were  obliged  to  walk  doAvn  the  hill, 
and  when  they  reached  the  bottom  David  was  going  as 
the  crow  flies  across  some  meadows  half  a  mile  ahead. 
A  good  canter  soon  brought  them  on  a  line  witli  him ; 
but  every  now  and  then  the  turns  of  the  road  and  the 
hills  gave  him  an  advantage.  Lucy,  naturally  kind- 
hearted,  would  have  relaxed  her  pace  to  make  the  race 
more  equal,  but  Talboys  urged  her  on ;  and  as  a  horse  is, 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      293 

after  all,  a  faster  animal  than  a  sailor,  they  rode  in  at 
the  front  gate  while  David  was  still  two  fields  off. 

"Come,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  regretfully,  "  we  have 
beat  him,  poor  fellow,  but  we  won't  go  in  till  we  see 
what  has  become  of  him." 

As  they  looked,  on  the  lawn,  Henry,  the  footman,  came 
out  with  a  salver,  and  on  it  reposed  a  soiled  note.  Henry 
presented  it  with  demvire  obsequiousness,  then  retired 
grinning  furtively. 

"  What  is  this,  a  begging  letter  ?  What  a  vile  hand  ! 
Look,  Lucy,  did  yon  ever?  W^hy,  it  must  be  some 
pauper." 

"  Have  a  little  mercy,  aunt,"  said  Lucy  piteously ; 
"  that  hand  has  been  formed  under  my  care  and  daily 
superintendence.     It  is  Reginald's." 

"  Oh,  that  alters  the  case.  What  can  the  dear  child 
have  to  say  to  me!  Ah,  the  little  wretch!  Send  the 
servants  after  him  in  every  direction !  Oh,  who  would 
be  a  mother  !  " 

The  letter  was  written  in  lines  with  two  pernicious 
defects.  1st,  They  were  like  the  wooden  part  of  a  bow 
instead  of  its  string.  2d,  They  yielded  to  gravity :  kept 
tending  down,  down,  to  the  right-hand  corner  more  and 
more.  In  the  use  of  capitals  the  writer  had  taken  tlie 
copyhead  as  his  model.  Tlie  style,  however,  was  pithy, 
and  in  writing  that  is  the  first  Christian  grace.  —  No,  T 
forgot,  it  is  the  second ;  pellucidity  is  the  first. 

Dear  mama, 

me  and  johny  cristmas 
Are  gone  to  the  north  pole  his 
.    Unkle  went  twise  we  shall  be 
Back  in  siks  munths 
Please  give  my  love  to  lucy  and 
Papa  and  ask  lucy  to  be  kind  to 
My  ginnipigs  i  shall  want  them 


294  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

Wen  i  come  back,     too  much 
Cabiges  is  not  good  for  ginnipigs. 
Wen  i  come  back  i  hope  there 
Will  be  no  rise  left,     it  is  very 
Unjust  to  give  me  those  nasty 
Messy  pudens  i  am  not  a  child 
There  filthy  there  abbommanabel. 
Johny  says  it  is  funy  at  the  north 
Pole  and  there  are  bares  and  they 
Are  wite. 

I  remain 

Your  duteful  son 

Reginald  George  Bazalgette. 

This  innocent  missive  set  house  and  jDremises  iu  an 
uproar.  Henry  was  sent  east  through  the  dirt,  multa 
reluctantem,  in  white  stockings.  Tom  galloped  north. 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  sat  in  the  hall,  and  did  well-bred  hyster- 
ics for  Kenealy  and  Talboys.  Lucy  pinned  up  her  habit, 
and  ran  to  the  boundary  hedge  on  the  bare  chance  of 
seeing  the  figures  of  the  truants  somewhere  short  of  the 
horizon.  Lo  and  behold !  there  was  David  Dodd  cross- 
ing the  very  nearest  field  and  coming  towards  her,  an 
urchin  in  each  hand. 

Lucy  ran  to  meet  them.  "Oh,  you  dear,  naughty 
children,  what  a  fright  you  have  given  us  !  Oh,  JNIr. 
Dodd,  how  good  of  you  !     Where  did  you  find  them  ?  " 

"  Under  that  hedge,  eating  apples.  They  tell  me  they 
sailed  for  the  North  Pole  this  morning,  but  fell  in  with 
a  pirate  close  under  the  land,  so  bout  ship  and  came 
ashore  again." 

"  A  pirate,  Mr.  Dodd  ?     Oh,  I  see  ;  a  beggar,  a  tramp." 

"A  deal  worse  than  that.  Miss  Lucy.  Now,  youngster, 
why  don't  you  spin  your  own  yarn  ?  " 

"  Yes,  tell  me,  Keggy." 

"Well,  dear,  when  I  had  written  to  mamma,  and 
Johnny  had  folded  it,  —  because  I  can  write  but  I  can't 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  295 

fold  it,  and  he  can  fold  it  but  lie  can't  write  it,  —  we 
went  to  the  North  Pole,  and  we  got  a  mile ;  and  then  we 
saw  that  nasty  NeAvfoundland  dog  sitting  in  the  road 
waiting  to  torment  us ;  it  is  farmer  Johnson's,  and  it 
plays  with  us,  and  knocks  us  down,  and  licks  us,  and 
frightens  us,  and  we  hate  it ;  so  we  came  home." 

"Ha!  ha!  good,  prudent  children.  Oh,  dear,  you 
have  had  no  dinner." 

''  Oh,  yes,  we  had,  Lucy,  such  a  nice  one :  we  bought 
such  a  lot  of  apples  of  a  woman.  I  never  had  a  dinner 
all  apples  before ;  they  always  spoil  them  with  mutton 
and  things,  and  that  nasty,  nasty  rice." 

"  Hear  to  that ! "  shouted  David  Dodd.  "  They  have 
been  dining  upon  vargese  (verjuice),  and  them  growing 
children.  I  shall  take  them  into  the  kitchen  and  put 
some  cold  beef  into  their  little  holds  this  minute,  poor 
little  lambs." 

"  Oh,  yes,  do !  and  I  will  run  and  tell  the  good  news." 
She  ran  across  the  lawn  and  came  into  the  hall,  red  with 
innocent  happiness  and  agitation.  "They  are  found, 
aunt !  they  are  found  !  don't  cry  !  Mr.  Dodd  found  them 
close  by.  They  have  had  no  dinner,  so  that  good,  kind 
Mr.  Dodd  is  taking  them  into  the  kitchen.  I  will  send 
Master  Christmas  home  with  a  servant.  Shall  I  bring 
you  Reggy  to  kiss  ?  " 

"  No,  no !  wicked  little  wretch !  to  frighten  his  poor 
mother !     Whip  him,  somebody,  and  put  him  to  bed." 

In  the  evening,  soon  after  the  ladies  had  left  the 
dining-room,  the  pianoforte  was  heard  playing  quadrilles 
in  the  drawing-room.  David  fidgeted  on  his  seat  a  little, 
and  presently  rose  and  went  for  his  violin,  and  joined 
Lucy  in  the  drawing-room  alone.  Mrs.  B.  was  trying  on 
a  dress.  Between  the  tunes  Lucy  chatted  with  him  as 
freely  and  kindly  as  ever.  David  was  in  heaven.  When 
the  gentlemen  came  up  from  the  dining-room,  his  joy 


296  LOVE   ]ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

was  interrupted,  but  not  for  long.  The  two  musicians 
played  with  so  much  spirit,  and  the  fiddle,  in  particular, 
was  so  hearty,  that  Mrs.  Bazalgette  proposed  a  little 
quiet  dance  on  the  carpet;  and  this  drew  the  other  men 
away  from  the  piano,  and  left  David  and  Lucy  to  them- 
selves. She  stole  a  look  more  than  once  at  his  bright 
eyes  and  rich  ruddy  color,  and  asked  herself,  "Is  that 
really  the  same  face  we  found  looking  wan  and  haggard 
on  the  sea  ?  I  think  I  have  put  an  end  to  that,  at  all 
events."  The  consciousness  of  this  sort  of  power  is 
secretly  agreeable  to  all  men  and  all  women,  whether 
they  mean  to  abuse  it  or  no.  She  smiled  demurely  at 
her  mastery  over  this  great  heart,  and  said  to  herself, 
"  One  would  think  I  was  a  witch."  Later  in  the  evening 
she  eyed  him  again,  and  thought  to  herself,  "If  my 
company  and  a  few  friendly  words  can  make  him  so 
happy,  it  does  seem  very  hard  I  should  select  him  to 
shun  for  the  few  days  he  has  to  pass  in  England  now  — 
hut  then  if  I  let  him  think  —  I  don't  know  what  to  do 
with  him.     Poor  Mr.  Dodd." 

Miss  Fountain  did  not  torment  her  bolder  aspirants 
with  alternate  distance  and  familiarity.  She  rode  out 
every  fine  day  with  Mr.  Talboys,  and  was  all  affability. 
She  sat  next  Mv.  Hardie  at  dinner,  and  was  all  affability. 

Narrative  has  its  limits ;  and  to  relate  in  some  sequence 
the  honest  sailor's  tortures  in  love  with  a  tactician,  I 
have  necessarily  omitted  concurrent  incidents  of  a  still 
tamer  character ;  but  the  reader  may,  by  the  help  of  his 
own  intelligence,  gather  their  general  results  from  the 
following  dialogues,  which  took  place  on  the  afternoon 
and  evening  of  the  terrible  infant's  escapade. 

3f)-s.  Bazahjette.  "  Well,  my  dear  friend,  and  how 
does  this  naughty  girl  of  mine  use  you  ?  " 

Mr.  Hardie.  "As  well  as  I  could  expect,  and  better 
than  I  deserve." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  297 

Mrs.  B.  "Then  she  must  be  cleverer  than  any  girl 
that  ever  breathed.  However,  she  does  appreciate  your 
conversation ;  she  makes  no  secret  of  it." 

Mr.  H.  "  I  have  so  little  reason  to  complain  of  my 
reception,  that  I  will  make  my  proposal  to  her  this  even- 
ing if  you  think  proper." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  started,  and  glanced  admiration  on  a 
man  of  eight  thousand  a  year,  who  came  to  the  point  of 
points  without  being  either  cajoled  or  spurred  thither: 
but  she  shook  her  head.  "  Prudence,  my  dear  Mr. 
Hardie,  prudence.  Not  just  yet.  You  are  making 
advances  every  day ;  and  Lucy  is  an  odd  girl ;  with  all 
her  apparent  tenderness,  she  is  unimpressionable." 

"  That  is  only  virgin  modesty,"  said  Hardie,  dogmati- 
cally. 

"  Fiddlestick,"  replied  Mrs.  B.,  good-humoredly.  "  The 
greatest  flirts  I  ever  met  with  were  virgins,  as-  you  call 
them.  I  tell  you  she  is  not  disposed  towards  marriage 
as  all  other  girls  are  —  until  they  have  tasted  its  bit- 
ters." 

Mr.  H.  "If  I  know  anything  of  character,  she  will 
make  a  very  loving  wife." 

Mrs.  B.  (sharply).  "  That  means  a  nice  little  negro. 
Well,  I  think  she  might,  when  once  caught;  but  she  is 
not  caught,  and  she  is  slippery,  and,  if  you  are  in  too 
great  a  hurry,  she  may  fly  off :  but,  above  all,  we  have  a 
dangerous  rival  in  the  house,  just  now." 

Mr.  H.  "What!  that  Mr.  Talboys  ?  I  don't  fear 
him.     He  is  next  door  to  a  fool." 

Mrs.  B.  "  What  of  that  ?  fools  are  dangerous  rivals 
for  a  lady's  favor.  We  don't  object  to  fools.  It  depends 
on  the  employment.  There  is  one  oflice  we  are  apt  to 
select  them  for." 

Mr.  H.     "  A  husband,  eh  ?  "     The  lady  nodded. 

Mrs.  B.     "  I  meant  to  marry  a  fool  in  Bazalgette  ;  but 


298  LOVE   ISIE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

I  found  my  mistake.  The  wretch  had  only  feigned 
absurdity.     He  came  out  in  his  true  colors  directly." 

Mr.  II.  "  A  man  of  sense,  eh  ?  The  sinister  hypo- 
crite !  He  only  wore  the  cap  and  bells  to  allure 
unguarded  beauty  :  and  doffed  them  when  he  donned  the 
wedding  suit." 

Mrs.  B.  "  Yes.  But  these  are  reminiscences  so  sweet 
—  that  I  shall  be  glad  to  return  from  them  to  your  little 
affair;  seriously,  then,  Mr.  Talboys  is  not  to  be  over- 
looked, for  this  reason :  he  is  well  backed." 

"  By  whom  ?  " 

"  By  some  one  who  has  influence  Avith  Lucy :  her 
nearest  relation,  Mr.  Fountain." 

"  What !  is  he  nearer  to  her  than  you  are  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  and  she  is  fond  of  him  to  infatuation. 
One  day  I  did  but  hint  that  selfishness  entered  into  his 
character  (he  is  eaten  up  with  it),  and  that  he  told  fibs ; 
Mr.  Hardie,  she  turned  round  on  me  like  a  tigress ;  oh ! 
how  she  made  me  cry  !  " 

The  keen  hand,  Hardie,  smiled  satirically,  and  after  a 
pause,  answered  with  consummate  coolness  :  "  I  believe 
thus  much ;  that  she  loves  her  uncle,  and  that  his  influ- 
ence, exerted  unscrupulously  "  — 

"  Which  it  will  be.  He  may  be  strong  enough  to  spoil 
us,  even  though  he  should  not  be  able  to  carry  his  own 
point ;  now,  trust  me,  my  dear  friend,  Lucy's  preference 
is  clearly  for  you,  but  I  know  the  weakness  of  my  own 
sex ;  and  above  all,  I  know  Lucy  Fountain.  A  mouse 
can  help  a  lion  in  a  matter  of  small  threads,  too  small 
for  his  nobler  and  grander  wisdom  to  see.  Let  me  be 
your  mouse  for  once."  The  little  woman  caught  the 
great  man  with  the  everlasting  hook :  and  the  discussion 
ended  in  "  Claw  me  and  I  will  claw  thee,"  and  in  the 
mutual  self-complacency  that  follows  that  arrangement. 
Vide  the  Scotch  Reviews. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  299 

Mr.  H.  "  I  really  think  she  would  accept  me  if  I 
offered  to-day ;  but  I  have  so  high  an  opinion  of  your 
sagacity  and  friendship  for  me,  madam,  that  I  will  defer 
my  judgment  to  yours.  I  must,  however,  make  one  con- 
dition, that  you  will  not  displace  my  plan  without  sug- 
gesting a  distinct  course  of  action  for  me  to  adopt  in  its 
place." 

This  smooth  proposal,  made  quietly  but  with  twink- 
ling eye,  would  have  shut  the  mouth  of  nine  advisers  in 
ten ;  but  it  found  the  Bazalgette  prepared. 

"  Oh !  the  pleasure  of  having  a  man  of  ability  to  deal 
with  ! "  cried  she,  with  enthusiasm.  "  This  is  my  advice, 
then  :  stay  INIr.  Fountain  out.  He  must  go  in  a  day  or 
two.  His  time  is  up,  and  I  will  drop  a  hint  of  fresh 
visitors  expected.  When  he  is  gone,  warm  by  degrees, 
and  offer  yourself  either  in  person  or  through  Bazalgette 
or  me." 

"  In  person  then,  certainly.  Of  all  foibles,  employing 
another  pair  of  eyes,  another  tongue,  and  another  person, 
to  make  love  for  one,  is  surely  the  silliest." 

"I  am  quite  of  your  opinion,"  cried  the  lady,  with  a 
hearty  laugh. 

Mr.  Fountain.  "So  you  are  satisfied  with  the  state  of 
things  ?  " 

Mr.  Talboijs.  "Yes,  I  think  I  have  beaten  the  sailor 
out  of  the  field." 

"Well,  but  — this  Hardie?" 

"  Hardie  !  a  shopkeeper.     I  don't  fear  him." 

"  In  that  case,  Avhy  not  propose  ?  I  have  been  doing 
the  preliminaries  —  sounding  your  praises." 

Mr.  Talboys  (tyrannically).  "  I  propose  next  Satur- 
day." 

Mr.  Fountain.     "Very  well." 

Talhoys.     "In  the  boat." 

"  In  the  boat !     What  boat  ?     There's  no  boat." 


300  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  I  have  asked  lier  to  sail  with  me  from in  a  boat ; 

there  is  a  very  nice  little  lugger-rigged  one.  I  am  having 
the  seats  padded  and  stuffed  and  lined,  and  an  awning 
put  up,  and  the  boat  painted  white  and  gold." 

"Bravo!     Cleopatra's  galley." 

"I  assure  yon  she  looks  forward  to  it  with  pleasure j 
she  guesses  why  I  want  to  get  her  into  that  boat.  She 
hesitated  at  first ;  but  at  last  she  consented  with  a  look 
—  a  conscious  look.     I  can  hardly  describe  it." 

"  There  is  no  need,"  cried  Fountain.  "  I  know  it ;  the 
jade  turned  all  eyelashes." 

''  That  is  rather  exaggerated,  but  still "  — 

"  But  still  I  have  described  it  —  to  a  hair.     Ha !  ha !  " 

Talbot/s  (gravely).     "  Well,  yes." 

Mr.  Talboys,  I  am  bound  to  own,  was  accurate.  During 
the  last  day  or  two  Lucy  had  taken  a  turn ;  she  had  been 
bewitching;  she  had  flattered  him  with  tact,  but  deli- 
ciously ;  had  consulted  him  as  to  which  of  his  beautiful 
dresses  she  should  wear  at  the  masked  ball,  and  when 
pressed  to  have  a  sail  in  the  boat  he  was  fitting  for  her, 
she  ended  by  giving  a  demure  assent. 

Chorus  of  male  readers  :  "OA,  les  femmes,  les  fenimes !  ^^ 

David  Dodd  had  by  nature  a  healthy  as  well  as  a  high 
mind ;  but  the  fever  and  ague  of  an  absorbing  passion 
were  telling  on  it.  Like  many  a  great  heart  before  his 
day,  his  heart  was  tossed  like  a  ship,  and  went  up  to 
heaven  and  down  again  to  despair,  as  a  girl's  humor 
shifted,  or  seemed  to  shift ;  for  he  forgot  that  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  accident,  and  that  her  sex  are  even  more 
under  its  dominion  than  ours.  No,  whatever  she  did 
must  be  spontaneous,  voluntary,  premeditated  even^  and 
her  lightest  word  worth  weighing,  her  lightest  action 
worth  anxious  scrutiny  as  to  its  cause. 

Still  he  had  this  about  him  that  the  peevish  and  puny 
lover  has  not.     Her  bare  presence  was  joy  to  him.    Even 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  301 

when  she  was  surrounded  by  other  figures,  he  saw  and 
felt  but  the  one ;  the  rest  were  nothings.  But  when  she 
Avent  of  his  sight,  some  bright  illusion  seemed  to  fade 
into  cold  and  dark  reality.  Then  it  fell  on  him  like  a 
weighty,  icy  hammer,  that  in  three  days  he  must  go  to 
sea  for  two  years,  and  that  he  was  no  nearer  her  heart 
now  than  he  was  at  Font  Abbey ;  was  he  even  as  near  ? 

So,  the  next  afternoon  he  thrust  in  before  Talboys, 
and  put  Lucy  on  her  horse  by  brute  force,  and  gripped 
her  stout  little  boot,  which  she  had  slyly  substituted  for 
a  shoe,  and  touched  her  glossy  habit,  and  felt  a  thrill  of 
bliss  unspeakable  at  his  momentary  contact  Avith  her; 
but  she  was  no  sooner  out  of  sight  than  a  hollow  ache 
seized  the  poor  fellow,  and  he  hung  his  head,  and  sighed. 

''I  say,  capting,"  said  a  voice  in  his  ear.  He  looked 
up,  and  there  stood  Tom  the  stable-boy,  with  both  hands 
in  his  pockets.  Tom  was  not  there  by  his  own  proi:)er 
movement,  but  Avas  agent  of  Betsy  the  under-housemaid. 

Female  servants  scan  the  male  guests,  pretty  closely 
too,  without  seeming  to  do  it;  and  judge  them  upon 
lamentably  broad  principles :  youth,  health,  size,  beauty, 
and  good  temper.  Oh,  the  coarse-minded  critics  !  Hence 
it  befell  that  in  their  eyes,  especially  after  the  fiddle 
business,  David  Avas  a  king  compared  Avith  his  riA^als. 

"  If  I  look  at  him  too  long,  I  shall  eat  him,"  said  the 
cook-maid. 

"  He  is  a  darling,"  said  the  upper  housemaid. 
•  Betsy,  aforesaid,  often  opened  a  AvindoAv  to  have  a  sly 
look  at  him,  and  on  one  of  these  occasions  she  inspected 
him  from  an  upper  story  at  her  leisure.  His  manner 
drCAV  her  attention.  She  saAV  him  mount  Lucy,  and  eye 
her  departing  form  sadly  and  Avistfully.  Betsy  gloAvered 
and  glowered,  and  hit  the  nail  on  the  head,  as  people 
will  do  who  are  so  absurd  as  to  look  Avith  their  OAvn  eyes, 
and  draw  their  oAvn  conclusions  instead  of  other  people's. 


302  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

After  this  she  took  an  opportunity,  and  said  to  Tom, 
with  a  satirical  air,  "Ho^y  are  you  off  for  nags,  your 
way  ?  " 

"  Oh,  we  have  got  enough  for  our  corn,"  replied  Tom, 
on  the  defensive. 

"  It  seems  you  can't  find  one  for  the  captain  amongst 
you." 

"  Will  you  give  me  a  kiss  if  I  make  you  out  a  liar  ?  " 

"  Sooner  than  break  my  arm.  Come,  you  might,  Tom. 
Now,  is  it  reasonable,  him  never  to  get  a  ride  with  her, 
and  that  useless  lot  prancing  about  with  her  all  day 
long  ?  " 

"  Why  don't  you  ride  with  'em,  capting  ?  " 

"  I  have  no  horse." 

"  I  have  got  a  horse  for  you,  sir.     Master's." 

"  That  would  be  taking  a  liberty." 

"^  Liberty,  sir ;  no.  Master  would  be  so  pleased  if  you 
would  but  ride  him.     He  told  me  so." 

"  Then  saddle  him,  pray." 

"  I  have  a-saddled  him.  You  had  better  come  in  the 
stable-yard,  capting  ;  then  you  can  mount  and  follow, 
you  will  catch  them  before  they  reach  the  downs."  In 
another  minute  David  was  mounted.  "  Do  you  ride  short 
or  long,  capting  ?  "  inquired  Tom,  handling  the  stirrup 
leather. 

David  wore  a  puzzled  look.  "  I  ride  as  long  as  I  can 
stick  on."  And  he  trotted  out  of  the  stable-yard.  As 
Tom  had  predicted,  he  caught  the  party  just  as  they 
went  off  the  turnpike  on  to  the  grass.  His  heart  beat 
with  joy ;  he  cantered  in  amongst  them.  His  horse  was 
fresh,  squeaked,  and  bucked  at  finding  himself  on  grass, 
and  in  company,  and  David  announced  his  arrival  by 
rolling  among  their  horses'  feet  with  the  reins  tight 
grasjied  in  his   fist.     Tlie  ladies   screamed  with  terror. 


LOVE    ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  303 

David  got  up  laughing.  His  horse  had  hoped  to  canter 
away  without  him,  and  now  stood  facing  him  and  pulling. 

"  No,  ye  don't,"  said  David.  "  I  held  on  to  the  tiller- 
ropes,  though  I  did  go  overboard."  Then  ensued  a  battle 
between  David  and  his  horse  ;  the  one  wanting  to  mount, 
the  other  anxious  to  be  unencumbered  Avith  sailors.  It 
was  settled  by  David  making  a  vault,  and  sitting  on  the 
animal's  neck,  on  which  the  ladies  screamed  again,  and 
Lucy,  half  whimpering,  proposed  to  go  home. 

"Don't  think  of  it,"  cried  David.  "1  won't  be  beat 
by  such  a  small  craft  as  this.  Hello  ! "  For,  the  horse 
backing  into  Talboys,  that  gentleman  gave  him  a  clan- 
destine cut,  and  he  bolted,  and  being  a  little  hard-mouthed, 
would  gallop  in  spite  of  the  tiller-ropes.  On  came  the 
other  nags  after  him,  all  misbehaving  more  or  less,  so 
fine  a  thing  is  example.  When  they  had  galloped  half 
a  mile,  the  ground  began  to  rise,  and  David's  horse  relaxed 
his  pace,  whereon  David  whipped  him  industriously,  and 
made  him  gallop  again  in  spite  Qf_  remonstrance. 

The  others  drew  the  rein,  and  left  him  to  gallop  alone. 
Accordingly  he  made  the  round  of  the  hill  and  came 
back,  his  horse  covered  with  lather,  and  its  tail  trem- 
bling. "  There,"  said  he  to  Lucy,  with  an  air  of  radiant 
self-satisfaction,  "  he  clapped  on  sail  without  orders  from 
quarter-deck ;  so  I  made  him  carry  it  till  his  bows  were 
under  water." 

"  You  will  kill  my  uncle's  horse,"  was  the  reply  in  a 
chilling  tone. 

"  Heaven  forbid  !  " 

"  Look  at  its  poor  flank  beating." 

David  hung  his  head  like  a  schoolgirl  rebuked.  "But 
why  did  he  clap  on  sail  if  he  could  not  carry  it  ? " 
inquired  he  ruefully  of  his  monitress. 

The  others  burst  out  laughing.  But  Lucy  remained 
grave  and  silent. 


304  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

David  rode  along  crestfallen. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  brought  her  pony  close  to  him,  and 
whispered,  "Never  mind  that  little  cross-patch,  she  does 
not  care  a  pin  about  the  horse  ;  you  interrupted  her  flirta- 
tion, that  is  all." 

This  piece  of  consolation  soothed  David  like  a  bunch 
of  stinging-nettles. 

Whilst  Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  consoling  David  with 
thorns,  Kenealy  and  Talboys  were  quizzing  his  figure  on 
horseback. 

He  sat  bent  like  a  bow,  and  visibly  sticking  on :  item, 
he  had  no  straps,  and  his  trousers  rucked  up  half  to  his 
knee. 

Lucy's  attention  being  slyly  drawn  to  these  phenomena 
by  David's  friend  Talboys,  she  smiled  politely,  though 
somewhat  constrainedly ;  but  the  gentlemen  found  it  a 
source  of  infinite  amusement  during  the  whole  ride, 
which,  by  the  way,  was  not  a  very  long  one,  for  Miss 
Fountain  soon  expressed  a  wish  to  turn  homewards. 
David  felt  guilty,  he  scarce  knew  why. 

The  promised  happiness  was  wormAvood.  On  dis- 
mounting she  went  to  the  lawn  to  tend  her  flowers. 
David  followed  her,  and  said  bitterly,  "1  am  sorry  I 
came  to  spoil  your  pleasure." 

Miss  Fountain  made  no  answer. 

"I  thought  I  might  have  one  ride  with  you,  when 
others  have  so  many." 

"  Why,  of  course,  Mr.  Dodd.  If  you  like  to  expose 
yourself  to  ridicule,  it  is  no  affair  of  mine."  The  lady's 
manner  was  a  happy  mixture  of  frigidity  and  crossness. 
David  stood  benumbed,  and  Lucy  having  emptied  her 
flower-pot,  glided  indoors  without  taking  any  further 
notice  of  him. 

David  stood  rooted  to  the  spot.  Then  he  gave  a  heavy 
sigh,  and  went  and  leaned  against  one  of  the  pillars  of 


U"^ 


"  I    AM    SORRY    I    CAME    TO    SPOIL    YOUR    PLEASURE." 


LOVE   ]ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  305 

the  portico,  and  everything  seemed  to  swim  before  his 
eyes. 

Presently  he  heard  a  female  voice  inquire,  "Is  Miss 
Lucy  at  home  ? "  He  looked,  and  there  was  a  tall, 
strapping  woman,  in  conference  with  Henry.  She  had 
on  a  large  bonnet  with  flaunting  ribbons,  and  a  bushy 
cap  infuriated  by  red  flowers.  Henry's  eye  fell  upon 
these  embellishments.  "Not  at  home,"  chanted  he 
sonorously. 

"Eh,  dear,"  said  the  woman  sadly,  "I  have  come  a 
long  way  to  see  her  ! " 

"  Not  at  home,  ma'am,"  repeated  Henry  like  a  vocal 
machine. 

"My  name  is  Wilson,  young  man,"  said  she  persua- 
sively, and  her  amazon's  voice  was  mellow  and  womanly 
spite  of  her  coal-scuttle  full  of  field-poppies.  "  I  am  her 
nurse,  and  I  have  not  seen  her  this  five  years  come 
Martinmas,"  and  the  amazon  gave  a  gentle  sigh  of  dis- 
appointment. 

"Not  at  home,  ma'am,"  rang  tli'  inexorable  Plush. 

But  David's  good  heart  took  the  woman's  part.  "  She 
is  at  home  now,"  said  he  coming  forward.  "  I  saw  her 
go  into  the  house  scarce  a  minute  ago." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Mrs.  Wilson. 

But  Mr.  Plush's  face  was  instantly  puckered  all  over 
with  signals,  which  David  not  comprehending,  he  said, 
"  Can  I  say  a  word  with  you,  sir  ?  "  and,  drawing  him  on . 
one  side,  objected  in  an  injured  and  piteous  tone,  "We 
are  not  at  home  to  such  gallimaufry  as  that.  It  as  as 
much  as  my  place  is  worth  to  denounce  that  there  bonnet 
to  our  ladies." 

"  Bonnet  be  d d,"  roared  David  aloud.     "  It  is  her 

old  nurse.     Come,  heave  ahead,"  and  he  pointed  up  the 
stairs. 

"Anything  to  oblige  you,  captain/'  said  Henry,  and 
20 


306  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

sauntered  into  the  drawing-room  ;  "  Mrs.  Wilson,  laa'am, 
for  Miss  Fountain." 

"  Very  well ;  my  niece  will  be  here  directly." 

Lucy  had  just  gone  to  her  own  room  for  some  working 
materials. 

"  You  had  better  come  to  an  anchor  on  this  seat,  Mrs. 
Wilson,"  said  David. 

"  Thank  ye  kindly,  young  gentleman,"  said  Mrs. 
Wilson ;  and  she  settled  her  stately  figure  on  the  seat. 
"  I  have  walked  a  many  miles  to-day  along  of  our  horse 
being  lame,  and  I  am  a  little  tired ;  you  are  one  of  the 
family,  I  do  suppose." 

"  No,  I  am  only  a  visitor." 

"  Ain't  ye  noAv  ?  well,  thank  ye  kindly  all  the  same. 
I  have  seen  a  worse  face  than  yours,  I  can  tell  you," 
added  she,  for  in  the  midst  of  it  all  she  had  found  time 
to  read  countenances  more  mulierum. 

''  And  I  have  seen  a  good  many  hundred  worse  than 
yours,  Mrs.  Wilson." 

Mrs.  Wilson  laughed.  "  Twenty  years  ago  if  you  had 
said  so-,  I  might  have  believed  you,  or  even  ten :  bvit, 
bless  you,  I  am  an  old  woman  now,  and  can  say  what  I 
choose  to  the  men.     Forty-two  next  Candlemas." 

In  the  country  they  call  themselves  old  at  forty-two, 
because  they  feel  young.  In  town  they  call  themselves 
young  at  forty-two,  because  they  feel  old. 

David  saw  that  he  had  fallen  in  with  a  gossip  ;  and 
being  in  no  humor  for  vague  chat,  he  left  Mrs.  Wilson  to 
herself,  with  an  assurance  that  Miss  Fountain  would  be 
down  to  her  directly. 

In  leaving  her  he  went  into  worse  company,  his  own 
thoughts  ;  they  were  inexpressibly  sad  and  bitter.  "  She 
hates  me  then,"  said  he.  "  Everybody  is  welcome  to  her 
at  all  hours,  except  me.  That  lady  said  it  was  because  I 
interrupted  her  flirtation.     Ah  well !  I  shan't  interrupt 


LOVE   ]ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  307 

her  flirtation  mncli  longer.  I  shan't  be  in  her  way  or 
anybody's  long.  A  few  short  hours,  and  this  bitter  day 
will  be  forgotten,  and  nothing  left  me  but  the  memory  of 
the  kindness  she  had  for  me  once,  or  seemed  to  have, 
and  the  angel  face  I  must  carry  in  my  heart  wherever  I 
go,  by  land  or  sea.  The  sea  ?  ah  !  would  to  God  I  was 
upon  it  this  minute.  I'd  rather  be  at  sea  than  ashore,  in 
the  dirtiest  night  that  ever  blew." 

He  had  been  walking  to  and  fro  a  good  half-hour, 
deeply  dejected  and  turning  bitter,  when  looking  in  acci- 
dentally at  the  hall-door,  he  caught  sight  of  Mrs.  Wilson 
sitting  all  alone  where  he  had  left  her.  "  Why,  what  on 
earth  is  the  meaning  of  that  ?  "  thought  he,  and  he  went 
into  the  hall  and  asked  Mrs.  Wilson  how  she  came  to  be 
there  all  alone. 

"  That  is  what  I  have  been  asking  myself  a  while 
past,"  was  the  dry  reply. 

"  Have  you  not  seen  her  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  I  have  not  s&en  her,  and  to  my  mind  it  is 
doubtful  whether  I  am  to  see  her." 

"But  I  say  you  shall  see  her." 

"  No !  no !  don't  put  yourself  out,  sir,"  said  the  woman, 
carelessly.  "  I  dare  say  I  shall  have  better  luck  next 
time,  if  I  should  ever  come  to  this  house  again,  which  it 
is  not  very  likely."  She  added  gently,  "Young  folk  are 
thoughtless;  we  must  not  judge  them  too  hardly." 

"  Thoughtless  they  may  be,  but  they  have  no  business 
to  be  heartless.  I  have  a  great  mind  to  go  up  and  fetch 
her  down." 

"  Don't  ye  trouble,  sir.  It  is  not  worth  while  putting 
you  about  for  an  old  woman  like  me."  Then  suddenly 
dropping  the  mask  of  nonchalance,  which  women  of  this 
class  often  put  on  to  hide  their  sensibility,  she  said  very, 
very  gravely,  and  with  a  sad  dignity  that  one  would  not 
have  expected  from  her  gossip  and  her  finery,  "  I  begin 


SOS  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

to  fear,  sir,  that  the  child  I  have  suckled  doesn't  care  to 
know  me,  now  she  is  a  woman  grown." 

David  dashed  up  the  stairs  with  a  red  streak  on  his 
brow.  He  burst  into  the  drawing-room,  and  there  sat 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  overlooking,  and  Lucy  working  with  a 
face  of  beautiful  calm.  She  looked  just  then  so  very  like 
a  pure  tranquil  Madonna  making  an  altar-cloth,  or  some- 
thing, that  David's  intention  to  give  her  a  good  scolding 
was  Avithered  in  the  bud,  and  he  gazed  at  her  surprised 
and  irresolute,  and  said  not  a  word. 

"  Anything  the  matter  ?  "  inquired  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
attracted  by  the  brusqueness  of  his  entr}' . 

"  Yes,  there  is,"  said  David,  sternly.  Lucy  looked  up. 
"  Miss  Fountain's  old  nurse  has  been  sitting  in  the  hall 
more  than  half  an  hour,  and  nobody  has  had  the  polite- 
ness to  go  near  her." 

"  Oh,  is  that  all  ?  Well,  don't  look  daggers  at  me. 
There  is  Lucy,  give  her  a  lesson  in  good-breeding,  Mr. 
Dodd."  This  was  said  a  little  satirically,  and  rather 
nettled  David. 

'•Perhaps  it  does  not  become  me  to  set  up  for  a 
teacher  of  that :  I  know  my  OAvn  deficiencies  as  well  as 
anybody  in  this  house  knows  them ;  but  this  I  know, 
that  if  an  old  friend  walked  eight  miles  to  see  me,  it 
would  not  be  good-breeding  in  me  to  refuse  to  walk 
eight  yards  to  see  her.  And,  another  thing,  everybody's 
time  is  worth  something :  if  I  did  not  mean  to  see  her,  I 
would  have  that  much  consideration  to  send  down  and 
tell  her  so;  and  not  keep  the  woman  wasting  her  time 
as  well  as  her  trouble,  and  vexing  her  heart  into  the 
bargain." 

"Where  is  she,  Mr.  Dodd  ?"  asked  Lucy,  quickly. 

''Where  is  she?"  cried  David,  getting  louder  and 
louder.  "  Why,  she  is  cooling  her  heels  in  the  hall  this 
half-hour  and  more.  They  hadn't  the  manners  to  show 
her  into  a  room." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  309 

"I  will  go  to  lier,  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  Lucy,  turning  a 
little  pale.  "  Don't  be  angry,  I  will  go  directly  ;  "  and 
having  said  this  with  an  abject  slavishness  that  formed  a 
miraculous  contrast  with  her  late  crossness  and  impe- 
rious chilliness,  she  put  down  her  work  hastily  and  went 
out;  only  at  the  door  she  curved  her  throat,  and  cast 
back,  Parthian  like,  a  glance  of  timid  reproach,  as  much 
as  to  say,  "Need  you  have  been  so  very  harsh  with  a 
creature  so  obedient  as  this  is  ?  " 

That  deprecating  glance  did  Mr.  Dodd's  business.  It 
shot  him  with  remorse,  and  made  him  feel  a  brute. 

"  Ha !  ha !  That  is  the  way  to  speak  to  her,  Mr. 
Dodd ;  the  other  gentlemen  spoil  her." 

"It  was  very  unbecoming  of  me  to  speak  to  her 
harshly  like  that." 

"  Pooh !  nonsense ;  these  girls  like  to  be  ordered 
about :  it  saves  them  the  trouble  of  thinking  for  them- 
selves ;  but  what  is  to  become  of  me  ?  you  have  sent  off 
my  work-woman." 

"  I  will  do  her  work  for  her." 

"  What,  can  you  sew  ?  " 

"  Where  is  the  sailor  that  can't  sew  ?  " 

"  Delightful !  Then  j)lease  to  sew  these  two  thick 
ends  together.     Here  is  a  large  needle." 

David  whipped  out  of  his  pocket  a  round  piece  of 
leather  with  strings  attached,  and  fastened  it  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hand. 

"What  is  that?" 

"  It  is  a  sailor's  thimble."  He  took  the  work,  held  it 
neatly,  and  shoved  the  needle  from  behind  through  the 
thick  material.  He  Avorked  slowly  and  uncouthly,  but 
with  the  precision  that  was  a  part  of  his  character,  and 
made  exact  and  strong  stitches.  His  task-mistress 
looked  on,  and  under  the  pretence  of  minute  inspection 
brought  a  face  that  was  still  arch  and  pretty  unnecesr 


810  LOVE   ME   LTTTLE,    LOV^E   ME   LONG. 

sarily  close  to  the  marine  milliner,  in  which  attitude 
they  were  surprised  by  Mr.  Bazalgette,  who,  having 
come  in  through  the  open  folding-doors,  stood  looking 
mighty  sardonic  at  them  both  before  they  were  even 
aware  he  was  in  the  room. 

Omphale  colored  faintly  ;  but  Hercules  gave  a  cool  nod 
to  the  new-comer,  and  stitched  on  with  characteristic 
zeal  and  strict  attention  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

At  this  Bazalgette  uttered  a  sort  of  chuckle,  at  which 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  turned  red.  David  stitched  on  for  the 
bare  life. 

''  I  came  to  offer  to  invite  yon  to  my  study,  but "  — 

"  I  can't  come  just  now,"  said  David,  bluntly,  "  I  am 
doing  a  lady's  work  for  her." 

"  So  I  see,"  retorted  Bazalgette,  dryly. 

"  We  all  dine  with  the  Hunts  but  you  and  Mr.  Dodd," 
said  Mrs.  Bazalgette.  "  So  you  will  be  en  tete-a-tete  all 
the  evening," 

"  All  the  better  for  us  both."  And  with  this  ingratiat- 
ing remark  Mr.  Bazalgette  retired  whistling. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  heaved  a  gentle  sigh.  *'  Bity  me,  my 
friend,"  said  she,  softly. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  inquired  David. 

''  Mr.  Bazalgette  is  so  harsh  to  me,  —  ah !  —  to  me  who 
long  so  for  kindness  and  gentleness,  —  feel  I  could  give 
my  very  soul  in  exchange  for  them." 

The  bait  did  not  take. 

"It  is  only  his  manner,"  said  David,  good-naturedly. 
"  His  heart  is  all  right.  I  never  met  a  better ;  what  sort 
of  a  knot  is  that  you  are  tying  ?  why,  that  is  a  granny's 
knot ! "  and  he  looked  morose,  at  which  she  looked 
amazed ;  so  he  softened,  and  explained  to  her  with  be- 
nevolence the  rationale  of  a  knot.  "  A  knot  is  a  fasten- 
ing intended  to  be  undone  again  by  fingers,  and  not  to 
come  undone  without  them.     Accordingly  a  knot  is  no 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  311 

knot  at  all  if  it  jams,  or  if  it  slips.  A  granny's  knot 
does  both ;  when  you  want  to  untie  it  you  must  pick  at 
it  like  taking  a  nail  out  of  a  board,  and  for  all  that, 
sooner  or  later,  it  always  comes  undone  of  itself ;  now 
you  look  here,"  and  he  took  a  piece  of  string  out  of  his 
pocket  and  tied  her  a  sailor's  knot,  bidding  her  observe 
that  she  could  untie  it  at  once,  but  it  could  never  come 
untied  of  itself.  He  showed  her  with  this  piece  of 
string  half  a  dozen  such  knots,  none  of  which  could 
either  jam  or  slip. 

"  Tie  me  a  lover's  knot,"  suggested  the  lady  in  a 
whisper. 

"  Ay  !  ay !  "  and  he  tied  her  a  lover's  knot  as  imper- 
turbably  as  he  had  the  reef-knot,  bowling-knot,  fisher- 
man's bend,  etc. 

"  This  is  very  interesting,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  ironi- 
cally ;  she  thought  David  might  employ  a  tete-a-tete  with 
a  flirt  better  than  this.     "  What  a  time  Lucy  is  gone  ! " 

"All  the  better." 

"Why  ?  "  and  she  looked  down  in  mock  confusion. 

"  Because  poor  Mrs.  Wilson  will  be  glad." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  piqued  at  this  unexpected  answer. 
"  You  seem  quite  captivated  with  this  Mrs.  Wilson ;  it 
was  for  her  sake  you  took  Lucy  to  task.  Aprojjos,  you 
need  not  have  scolded  her,  for  she  did  not  know  the 
woman  was  in  the  house." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean  Lucy  was  not  in  the  room  when  Mrs.  Wilson 
was  announced.  /  was,  but  I  did  not  tell  her :  the  all- 
important  circumstance  had  escaped  my  memory.  Where 
are  you  running  to  now  ?  " 

"  Where  ?  why,  to  ask  her  pardon,  to  be  sure." 

Mrs.  B.       ["  Brute  !  "] 

David  ran  down  the  stairs  to  look  for  Lucy,  but  he 
found  somebody  else  instead :  his  sister  Eve,  whom  the 


312  LOVE   ME   LITTLE^    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

servant  had  that  moment  admitted  into  the  halL  It  was 
"Oh,  Eve!"  and  "Oh,  David!"  directly,  and  an  affec- 
tionate embrace. 

"You  got  my  letter,  David." 

"  No ! " 

"  Well,  then  you  will  before  long.  I  wrote  to  tell  you 
to  look  out  for  me.  I  had  better  have  brought  the  letter 
in  my  pocket.  I  didn't  know  I  was  coming  till  just  an 
hour  before  I  started.  Mother  insisted  on  my  going  to 
see  the  last  of  you.     Cousin  Mary  had  invited  me  to 

,  so   I   shall   see   you   off,  Davy  dear,  after  all.     I 

thought  I'd  just  pop  in  and  let  you  know  I  was  in  the 
neighborhood.  Mary  and  her  husband  are  outside  the 
gate  in  their  four-wheel.  I  would  not  let  them  drive  in 
because  I  want  to  hear  your  stor^^,  and  they  would  have 
bothered  us." 

"  Eve,  dear,  I  have  no  good  news  for  you.  Your  words 
have  come  true.  I  have  been  perjjlexed,  up  and  down, 
hot  and  cold,  till  I  feel  sometimes  like  going  mad.  Eve, 
I  cannot  fathom  her.  She  is  deeper  than  the  ocean,  and 
more  changeable.  What  am  I  saj* ing  ?  the  sea  and  the 
wind,  —  they  are  to  be  read  ;  they  have  their  signs  and 
their  warnings  ;  but  she  "  — 

"There  !  there!  that  is  the  old  song.  I  tell  you  it  is 
only  a  girl,  a  creature  as  shallow  as  a  puddle,  and  as  easy 
to  fathom  as  you  call  it ;  only  men  are  so  stupid,  espe- 
cially boys.  Now  just  you  tell  me  all  she  has  said,  all 
she  has  done,  and  all  she  has  looked,  and  I  will  turn  her 
inside  out  like  a  glove  in  a  minute." 

Cheered  by  this  audacious  pledge,  David  pumped  upon 
Eve  all  that  has  trickled  on  my  readers,  and  some  minor 
details  besides,  and  repeated  Lucy's  every  word,  sweet 
or  bitter,  and  recalled  her  lightest  action  —  meviineriint 
omnia  amantes  —  and  every  now  and  then  he  looked 
sadly  into  Eve's  keen  little  face  for  his  doom. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  313 

She  heard  him  in  silence  until  the  last  fatal  incident, 
—  Lucy's  severity  on  the  lawn.  Then  she  put  in  a  ques- 
tion, "  Were  those  her  exact  words  ?  " 

"  Do  I  ever  forget  a  syllable  she  says  to  me  ?  " 

"  Don't  be  angry.  I  forgot  what  a  ninny  she  has  made 
of  you.  Well,  David,  it  is  all  as  plain  as  my  hand.  The 
girl  likes  you,  that  is  all." 

"  The  girl  likes  me  ?  what  do  you  mean  ?  How  can 
you  say  that  ?  what  sign  of  liking  is  there  ?  " 

"  There  are  two.  She  avoids  you,  and  she  has  been 
rude  to  you." 

"  And  those  are  signs  of  liking,  are  they  ? "  said 
David  bitterly. 

"  Why  of  course  they  are,  stupid.  Tell  me  now :  does 
she  shun  this  Captain  Keely  ?  " 

"Kenealy?    No." 

"  Does  she  shun  Mr.  Harvey  ?  " 

"  Hardie  ?     No." 

"  Does  she  shun  Mr.  Talboys  ?  " 

"Oh,  Eve,  you  break  my  heart;  no!  no!  She  shuns 
no  one  but  poor  David." 

"Now  think  a  little.  Here  are  three  on  one  sort  of 
footing,  and  one  on  a  different  footing ;  which  is  likeliest 
to  be  the  man,  the  one  or  the  three  ?  You  have  gained 
a  point  since  we  were  all  together.  She  distinr/uishes 
you." 

"  But  what  a  way  to  distinguish  me  !  it  looks  more 
like  hatred  than  love  or  liking  either." 

"  Not  to  my  eye.  Why  should  she  shun  you  ?  You 
are  handsome,  you  are  good-tempered,  and  good  comjiany. 
Why  should  she  be  shy  of  you  ?  She  is  afraid  of  you, 
that  is  Avhy  ;  and  why  is  she  afraid  of  you  ?  because  she 
is  afraid  of  her  own  heart ;  that  is  how  I  read  her.  Then 
as  for  her  snubbing  you,  if  her  character  was  like  mine, 
that  ought  to  go  for  nothing,  for  I  snub  all  the  world ; 


314  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

but  this  is  a  little  queen  for  politeness.  I  can't  think 
she  would  go  so  far  out  of  her  way  as  to  affront  anybody 
—  unless  she  had  an  uncommon  respect  for  him." 

"  Listen  to  that  now  !     I  am  on  my  beam-ends." 

"Now,  think  a  minv;te,  David,"  said  Eve  calmly,  ignor- 
ing his  late  observation,  "  did  you  ever  know  her  snub 
anybody  ?  " 

"  Never.     Did  you  ?  " 

"  No,  and  she  never  would  unless  she  took  an  uncom- 
mon interest  in  the  person.  When  a  girl  likes  a  man, 
she  thinks  she  has  a  right  to  ill-use  him  a  little  bit ;  he 
has  got  her  affection  to  set  against  a  scratch  or  two. 
The  others  have  not.  So  she  has  not  the  same  right  to 
scratch  them.  La !  listen  to  me  teaching  him  A,  B,  C  ! 
Why,  David,  you  know  nothing ;  it's  scandalous." 

Eve's  confidence  communicated  itself  at  last  to  David ; 
but  when  he  asked  her  wliether  she  thought  Lucy  would 
consent  to  be  his  wife,  her  countenance  fell  in  her  turn. 
"  That  is  a  very  different  thing.  I  am  pretty  sure  she 
likes  you  :  how  could  she  help  it  ?  but  I  doubt  she  will 
never  go  to  the  altar  with  you.  Don't  be  angry  with  me, 
Davy,  dear.  You  are  in  love  with  her ;  and  to  you  she 
is  an  angel.  But  I  am  of  her  own  sex,  and  see  her  as 
she  is  ;  no  matter  who  she  likes,  she  will  never  be  con- 
tent to  make  a  bad  match,  as  they  call  it.  She  told  me 
so  once  with  her  own  lips.  But  she  had  no  need  to  tell 
me ;  worldliness  is  written  on  her.  David  !  David  !  you 
don't  know  these  great  houses,  nor  the  fair-spoken  crea- 
tures that  live  in  them,  with  tongues  tuned  to  sentiment, 
and  mild  eyes  fixed  on  the  main-chance ;  their  drawing- 
rooms  are  carpeted  market-places ;  you  may  see  the 
stones  bulge  through  the  flowery  pattern ;  there  the 
ladies  sell  their  faces,  the  gentlemen  their  titles  and 
their  money  ;  and  much  I  fear  Miss  Fountain's  hand  will 
go  like  the  rest — to  the  highest  bidder." 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG,  315 

"  If  I  tliought  so,  my  love,  deep  as  it  is,  would  turn  to 
contempt ;  I  would  tear  lier  out  of  my  heart  though  I 
tore  my  heart  out  of  my  body."  He  added,  "  I  will 
know  what  she  is  before  many  hours." 

"  Do,  David  !  Take  her  off  her  guard,  and  make  hot 
love  to  her :  that  is  your  best  chance.  It  is  a  pity  you 
are  so  much  in  love  Avith  her ;  you  might  win  her  by  a 
.surprise  if  you  only  liked  her  in  moderation." 

"  How  so,  dear  Eve  ?  " 

^'  The  battle  would  be  more  even.  Your  adoring  her 
gives  her  the  upper  hand  of  you.  She  is  sure  to  say 
'  no '  at  first,  and  then  I  am  afraid  you  will  leave  off, 
instead  of  going  on  hotter  and  hotter.  The  very  look 
she  will  put  on  to  check  you  ivill  check  you,  you  are  so 
green.  What  a  pity  I  can't  take  your  place  for  half  an 
hour !  I  would  have  her  against  her  will.  I  would  take 
her  by  storm.  If  she  said  *  no  '  twenty  times,  she  should 
say  '  yes '  the  twenty-first ;  but  you  are  afraid  of  her : 
fancy  being  afraid  of  a  woman.  Come,  David,  you  must 
not  shilly-shally,  but  attack  her  like  a  man  ;  and  if  she  is 
such  a  fool  she  can't  see  your  merit,  forgive  her  like  a  man, 
and  forget  her  like  a  man.     Come,  promise  me  you  will." 

"  I  promise  you  this,"  said  David,  "  that  if  I  lose  her 
it  shall  not  be  for  want  of  trying  to  win  her  ;  and  if  she 
refuses  me  because  I  am  not  her  fancy,  I  shall  die  a 
bachelor  for  her  sake."  Eve  sighed.  "  But  if  she  is  the 
mercenary  thing  you  take  her  for,  if  she  owns  to  liking 
me,  but  prefers  money  to  love,  then  from  that  moment 
she  is  no  more  to  me  than  a  picture  or  a  statue,  or  any 
other  lovely  thing  that  has  no  soul." 

With  these  determined  words  he  gave  his  sister  his 
arm,  and  walked  with  her  through  the  grounds  to  the  road 
where  her  cousin  was  waiting  for  her. 

Lucy  found  ]\Irs.  Wilson  in  the  hall.     "  Come  into  the 


316  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ISIE   LONG. 

library,  Mrs.  Wilson/'  said  she.  '•  I  have  only  just 
heard  you  were  here.  Won't  you  sit  down  ?  Are  you 
not  well,  Mrs.  Wilson  ?  You  tremble.  You  are  fatigued, 
I  fear.  Pray  compose  yourself.  May  I  ring  for  a  glass 
of  wine  for  you  ?  " 

"No,  no  I  Miss  Lucy,"  said  the  woman,  smiling:  '-'it 
is  only  along  of  you  coming  to  me  so  sudden,  and  you 
so  grown.  Eh,  sure,  can  this  fine  young  lady  be  the 
little  girl  I  held  in  my  lap  but  t'other  day,  as  it  seems  ?  " 

There  was  an  agitation  and  ardor  about  ]\[rs.  Wilson 
that,  coupled  with  the  flaming  bonnet,  made  Miss  Foun- 
tain uneasy.  She  thought  Mrs.  Wilson  must  be  a  little 
cracked,  or  at  least  flighty. 

''  Pray  compose  yourself,  madam,"  said  she  soothingly, 
but  with  that  dignity  nobody  could  assume  more  readily 
than  she  could.  "  I  dare  say  I  am  much  grown  since  I 
last  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you ;  but  I  have  not  out- 
grown my  memory,  and  am  happy  to  receive  you,  or  any 
of  our  old  servants  that  knew  my  dear  mother." 

"  Then  I  must  not  look  for  a  welcome,"  said  Mrs.  Wil- 
son with  feminine  logic,  "  for  I  was  never  your  servant, 
nor  your  mamma's."  Lucy  opened  her  eyes,  and  her  face 
sought  an  explanation. 

"  I  never  took  any  money  for  what  I  gave  you ;  so  how 
could  I  be  a  servant  ?  To  see  me  a-dangling  of  my  heels 
in  your  hall  so  long,  one  would  say  I  was  a  servant ;  but 
I  am  not  a  servant,  nor  like  to  be,  please  Goct,  unless  I 
should  have  the  ill-luck  to  bury  my  two  boys,  as  I  have 
their  father.  So  perhaps  the  best  thing  I  can  do,  miss, 
is  to  drop  you  my  courtesy,  and  walk  back  as  I  came." 
The  amazon's  manner  was  singularly  independent  and 
calm,  but  the  tell-tale  tears  were  in  her  large  gray  hon- 
est eyes  before  she  ended. 

Lucy's  natural  penetration  and  habit  of  attending  to 
faces   rather   than   words  came   to   her   aid.     "  Wait   a 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE  ME  LONG.  317 

minute,  Mrs.  "Wilson,"  said  slie,  "  I  think  there  is  some 
misunderstanding  here.  Perhaps  the  fault  is  mine. 
And  yet  I  remember  more  than  one  nursery-maid  that 
was  kind  enough  to  me  ;  hut  I  have  heard  nothing  of 
them  since." 

''  Their  blood  is  not  in  your  veins  as  mine  is,  unless 
the  doctors  have  lanced  it  out." 

"I  never  was  bled  in  my  life,  if  you  mean  that, 
madam.  But  I  must  ask  you  to  explain  how  I  can 
possibly  have  the  —  the  advantage  of  possessing  yoicr 
blood  in  my  veins." 

Mrs.  Wilson  eyed  her  keenly.  "  Perhaps  I  had  better 
tell  you  the  story  from  first  to  last,  young  lady,"  said 
she  quietly, 

"  If  you  please,"  said  tlie  courtier,  mastering  a  sigh ; 
for  in  Mrs.  Wilson  there  was  much  that  promised  fluency. 

"Well,  miss,  when  you  came  into  the  world  your 
mamma  could  not  nurse  you.  I  do  notice  the  gentry 
that  eat  the  fat  of  the  land  are  none  the  better  for  it ; 
for  a  poor  woman  can  do  a  mother's  part  by  her  child, 
but  high-born  and  high-fed  folk  can't  always  :  so  you  had 
to  be  brought  up  by  hand,  miss,  and  it  did  not  agree  with 
you,  and  that  is  no  great  wonder,  seeing  it  is  against 
nature.  Well,  my  little  girl,  that  was  born  just  two  days 
after  you,  died  in  my  arms  of  convulsion  fits,  when  she 
was  just  a  month  old.  She  had  only  just  been  buried, 
and  me  in  bitter  grief,  when  doesn't  the  doctor  call  and 
ask  me  as  a  great  favor,  would  I  ni;rse  Mrs.  Fountain's 
child,  that  was  pining  for  want  of  its  natural  food  ?  I 
bade  him  get  out  of  my  sight.  I  felt  as  if  no  woman 
had  a  right  to  have  a  child  living  when  my  little  darling 
was  gone.  But  my  husband,  a  just  man  as  ever  was, 
said,  '  Take  a  thought,  Mary,  the  child  is  really  pining 
by  all  accounts.'  Well,  I  would  not  listen  to  him.  But 
next  Sunday,  after  afternoon  church,  my  mother,  that 


318  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

had  not  said  a  word  till  then,  comes  to  me  and  puts  her 
hand  on  my  shoulder  with  a  quiet  way  she  had :  '  Mary,' 
says  she,  '  I  am  older  than  you,  and  have  known  more.' 
She  had  buried  six  of  us,  poor  thing.  Says  she,  scarce 
above  a  whisper :  '  Suckle  that  failing  child.  It  will  be 
the  better  for  her,  and  the  better  for  you,  Mary  my  girl.' 
Well,  miss,  my  mother  was  a  woman  that  didn't  inter- 
fere every  minute,  and  seldom  gave  her  reasons ;  but  if 
you  scorned  her  advice,  you  mostly  found  them  out  to 
your  cost :  and  then  she  was  my  mother ;  and  in  those 
days  mothers  were  more  thought  of,  leastways  by  us  that 
were  women  and  had  suffered  for  our  children,  and  so 
learned  to  prize  the  woman  that  had  suffered  for  us. 
'Well,  then,'  I  said,  'if  you  say  so,  mother,  I  suppose  I 
didn't  ought  to  gainsay  you,  on  the  Lord  his  day.'  For 
you  see  my  mother  was  one  that  chose  her  time  for 
speaking  —  eh!  but  she  was  wise.  'Mother,'  says  I, 'to 
oblige  you,  so  be  it ; '  and  with  tliat  I  fell  to  crying  sore 
on  my  mother's  neck,  and  she  wasn't  long  behind  me,  you 
may  be  sure.  Whiles  we  sat  a-crying  in  one  another's 
arms,  in  comes  John,  and  goes  to  speak  a  word  of  com- 
fort. '  It  is  not  that,'  says  my  mother :  '  she  have  given 
her  consent  to  nurse  Mrs.  Fountain's  little  girl.'  '  It  is 
much  to  her  credit,'  says  he  :  says  he,  '  I  will  take  her  up 
to  the  house  myself.'  'What  for,'  says  I;  'them  that 
grants  the  favor  has  no  call  to  run  after  them  that 
asks  it.'  You  see.  Miss  Lucy,  that  was  my  ignorance ; 
we  were  small  farmers,  too  independent  to  be  fawn- 
ing, and  not  high  enough  to  weed  ourselves  of  uppish- 
ness.  Your  mamma,  she  was  a  real  lady ;  so  she 
had  no  need  to  trouble  about  her  dignity,  she  thought 
only  of  her  child,  and  she  didn't  send  the  cliild,  but 
she  came  with  it  herself.  Well,  she  came  into  our 
kitchen  and  made  her  obeisance,  and  we  to  her,  and 
mother   dusted  her  a  seat.     She  was   pale-like,  and  a 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   IVIE   LONG.  319 

mother's  care  was  in  her  face,  and  that  went  to  my 
heart.  'This  is  ver}^,  very  kind  of  you,  Mrs.  Wilson,' 
said  she.  Those  were  her  words.  '  Mayhap  it  is,' 
says  I ;  and  my  heart  felt  like  lead.  Mother  made  a 
sign  to  your  mamma,  that  she  should  not  hurry  me.  I 
saw  the  signal  for  as  quick  as  she  was ;  but  I  never  let 
on  I  saw  it.  At  last  I  plucked  up  a  bit  of  courage,  and 
I  said,  '  Let  me  see  it.'  So  mother  took  you  from  the 
girl  that  held  you  all  wrapped  up,  and  mother  put  you  on 
my  knees  ;  and  I  took  a  good  look  at  you.  You  had  the 
sweetest  little  face  that  ever  came  into  the  world,  but  all 
peaked  and  pining  for  want  of  nature.  With  you  being 
on  my  knees,  my  bosom  began  to  yearn  over  you,  it  did. 
'The  child  is  starved,'  said  I,  'that  is  all  its  grief;  and,' 
says  I,  'you  did  right  to  bring  it  here.'  Your  mother 
clasps  her  hands.  '  Oh !  Mrs.  W^ilson,'  says  she,  '  God 
grant  it  is  not  too  late.'  So  then  I  smiled  back  to  her, 
and  I  said,  '  Don't  you  fret :  in  a  fortnight  you  shan't 
know  her.'  You  see  I  was  beginning  to  feel  proud  of 
what  I  knew  I  could  do  for  you.  I  was  a  healthy  young 
woman,  and  could  have  nursed  two  children  as  easy  as 
some  can  one.  To  make  a  long  story  short,  I  gave  you 
the  breast  then  and  there  :  and  you  didn't  leave  us  long 
in  doubt  whether  cow's  milk  or  mother's  milk  is  God's 
will  for  sucklings.  Well,  your  mamma  put  her  hands 
before  her  face,  and  I  saw  the  tears  force  their  way 
between  her  fingers.  So  when  she  was  gone,  I  said  to 
my  mothei",  '  What  was  that  for  ?  '  —  'I  shan't  tell  you,' 
says  she.  '  Do,  mother,'  says  I.  So  she  said,  '  I  wonder 
at  your  having  to  ask;  can't  you  see  it  was  jealousy- 
like ?  Do  you  think  she  has  not  her  burden  to  bear  in 
this  world  as  well  as  you  ?  How  would  you  like  to  see 
another  woman  do  a  mother's  part  for  a  child  of  yours, 
and  you  sit  looking  on  like  a  toy-mother  ?  '  Eh  !  Miss 
Lucy,  but  I  was  vexed   for  her  at  that,  and  my  heart 


320  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

softened :  and  I  used  to  take  you  up  to  the  great  house, 
and  spend  nearly  the  whole  day  there,  not  to  rob  her  of 
her  child  more  than  need  be." 

''  Oh,  Mrs.  Wilson  !  oh,  you  kind,  noble-hearted  creature, 
surely  Heaven  will  reward  you." 

''  That  is  past  praying  for,  my  dear.  Heaven  wasn't 
going  to  be  long  in  debt  to  a  farmer's  wife,  you  may  be 
sure  ;  not  a  day,  not  an  hour.  I  had  hardly  laid  you  to 
my  breast,  when  you  seemed  to  grow  to  my  heart.  My 
milk  had  been  tormenting  me,  for  one  thing.  My  good 
mother  had  thought  of  that,  I'll  go  bail :  and  of  course 
you  relieved  me.  But  above  all,  you  numbed  the  wound 
in  ray  heart,  and  healed  it  by  degrees :  a  part  of  my  love 
that  lay  in  the  churchyard  seemed  to  come  back  like,  and 
settle  on  the  little  helpless  darling  that  milked  me.  At 
whiles  I  forgot  you  were  not  my  own :  and  even  when  I 
remembered  it,  it  was  —  I  don't  know  —  somehow  —  as 
if  it  wasn't  so.  I  knew  in  my  head  you  were  none  of 
mine,  but  Avhat  of  that,  I  didn't  feel  it  here.  Well, 
miss,  I  nursed  you  a  year  and  two  months,  and  a  finer 
little  girl  never  was  seen,  and  such  a  weight !  xVnd  of 
course  I  was  proud  of  you ;  and  often  your  dear  mother 
tried  to  persuade  me  to  take  a  twenty -pound  note,  or 
ten ;  but  I  never  would.  I  could  not  sell  my  milk  to  a 
queen.  I'd  refuse  it,  or  I'd  make  a  gift  of  it,  and  the 
love  that  goes  with  it,  Avhich  it  is  beyond  price.  I  didn't 
say  so  to  her  in  so  many  words,  but  I  used  to  tell  her, 
'  I  was  as  much  in  her  little  girl's  debt  as  she  was  in 
mine,'  and  so  I  Avas.  But  as  for  a  silk  gown,  and  a 
shawl,  and  the  like,  T  didn't  say  '  no  '  to  them ;  who  ever 
does  ?  " 

"Nurse!"  » 

"My  lamb!" 

'•'Can  you  ever  forgive  me  for  confounding  you  with  a 
servant  ?  I  am  so  inexperienced.  I  knew  nothing  of 
all  this." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  321 

"  Oh,  Miss  Lucy,  '  let  that  flea  stick  in  the  wall,'  as  the 
saying  is." 

"But,  dear  Mrs.  Wilson  —  only  think  that  your  affec- 
tion for  me  should  have  lasted  all  these  years.  You 
speak  as  if  such  tenderness  was  common.  I  fear  you 
are  mistaken  there :  most  nurses  go  away  and  think  no 
more  of  those  to  whom  they  have  been  as  mothers  in 
infancy." 

"  How  do  you  know  that.  Miss  Lucy  ?  Who  can  tell 
what  passes  inside  those  poor  women  that  are  ground 
down  into  slaves,  and  never  dare  show  their  real  hearts  to 
a  living  creature  ?  Certainly,  hirelings  will  be  hirelings, 
and  a  poor  creature  that  is  forced  to  sell  her  breast,  and 
is  bundled  off  as  soon  as  she  has  served  the  grand  folks' 
turn,  why  she  behoves  to  steel  herself  against  nature,  and 
she  knows  that  from  the  first :  but  whether  she  always  does 
get  to  harden  herself,  I  take  leave  to  doubt.  Miss  Lucy, 
I  knew  an  unfortunate  girl  that  nursed  a  young  gentle- 
man, leastways  a  young  nobleman  it  was :  and,  years 
after  that,  I  have  known  her  to  stand  outside  the  hedge 
for  an  hour  to  catch  a  sight  of  him  at  play  on  the  lawn 
among  the  other  children.  Ay,  and  if  she  had  a  penny 
piece  to  spare  she  wovdd  go  and  buy  him  sugar-plums,  and 
lay  wait  for  him  and  give  them  him,  and  he  heir  to 
thousands  a  year." 

"Poor  thing  !     Poor  thing  !  " 

"  Next  to  the  tie  of  blood,  Miss  Lucy,  the  tie  of  milk 
is  a  binding  affection.  When  you  went  to  live  twenty 
miles  from  us  I  behoved  to  come  in  the  cart  and  see  you, 
from  time  to  time." 

"  I  remember,  nurse !  I  remember ! " 

"Wlien  I  came  to  our  new  farm  hard  by,  you  were 
away  :  but  as  soon  as  I  heard  you  were  come  back,  it 
was  like  a  magnet  drawing  me.  I  could  not  keep  away 
from  you." 

21  .,     _.     . 


322  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   IsTE  LONG. 

"  Heaven  forbid  you  should ;  and  I  will  come  and  see 
you,  dear  nurse." 

"  Will  ye  now  ?  Do  now.  I  liave  got  a  nice  little 
parlor  for  you.  It  is  a  very  good  house  for  a  farm- 
house :  and  there  we  can  set  and  talk  at  our  ease,  and  no 
fine  servants  dressed  like  lords  coming  staring  in." 

Lucy  now  proffered  a  timid  request  that  Mrs.  Wilson 
would  take  off  her  bonnet.  "  I  want  to  see  your  good 
kind  face  without  any  ornament." 

"Hear  to  that  now,  the  darling,"  and  off  came  the 
bonnet. 

"Now  your  cap." 

"Well,  I  don't  know:  I  hadn't  time  to  do  my  hair  as 
should  be  before  coming." 

"  What  does  that  matter  with  me  ?  I  must  see  you 
without  that  cap." 

"  What,  don't  you  like  my  new  cap  ?  Isn't  it  a  pretty 
cap  ?  Why,  I  bought  it  a-purpose  to  come  and  see 
you  in." 

"  Oh !  it  is  a  very  pretty  cap  in  itself,"  said  the 
courtier,  "  but  it  does  not  suit  the  shape  of  your  face. 
Oh  !  what  a  difference  !  Ah,  now  I  see  your  heart  in 
your  face.     Will  you  let  me  make  you  a  cap  ?  " 

"  Will  you  now.  Miss  Lucy  ?  I  shall  be  so  proud 
wearing  it,  our  house  will  scarce  hold  me." 

At  this  junction  a  footman  came  in  with  a  message 
from  ]\Irs.  Bazalgette,  to  remind  Lucy  that  they  dined 
out. 

"I  mi;st  go  and  dress,  nurse."  She  then  kissed  her, 
and  promised  to  ride  over  and  visit  her  at  the  farm  next 
week,  and  spend  a  long  time  with  her  quietly,  and  so 
these  new  old  friends  parted. 

Lucy  pondered  every  word  Mrs.  Wilson  had  said  to 
her,  and  said  to  herself,  "  What  a  child  I  am  still.  How 
little  I  know.     How  feebly  I  must  have  observed." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  323 

The  party  at  dinner  consisted  of  Mr.  Bazalgette,  David, 
and  Reginald,  who,  taking  advantage  of  his  mother's 
absence  and  Lucy's,  had  prevailed  on  the  servants  to  let 
him  dine  with  the  grown-up  ones.  "  Hallo  !  urchin," 
said  Mr.  Bazalgette,  "  to  what  do  we  owe  this  honor  ?  " 

''Papa,"  said  Reginald,  quaking  at  heart,  "if  I  don't 
ever  begin  to  be  a  man,  what  is  to  become  of  me  ?  " 

Mr.  Reginald  did  not  exhibit  his  full  powers  at  dinner 
time.  He  was  greatest  at  dessert.  Peaches  and  apricots 
fell  like  blackberries.  He  topped  up  with  the  ginger 
and  other  preserves ;  then  he  uttered  a  sigh,  and  his  eye 
dwelt  on  some  candied  pineapple  he  had  procrastinated 
too  long.  Putting  the  pineapple's  escape  and  the  sigh 
together,  Mr.  Bazalgette  rightly  judged  that  absolute 
repletion  had  been  attained.  "Come,  Reginald,"  said 
he,  "  run  away  now,  and  let  Mr.  Dodd  and  me  have  our 
talk."  Before  the  words  were  well  out  of  his  mouth,  a 
howl  broke  from  the  terrible  infant.  He  had  evidently 
feared  the  proposal,  and  got  this  dismal  howl  all  ready. 

"  Oh,  papa  !  oh !  oh  ! " 

"What  is  the  matter?" 

"  Don't  make  me  go  away  with  the  ladies  this  time. 
Jane  says  I  am  not  a  man  because  I  go  away  when  the 
ladies  go.  And  cousin  Lucy  won't  marry  me  till  I  am  a 
man.     Oh,  papa,  do  let  me  be  a  man  this  once." 

"  Let  him  stay,  sir,"  said  David. 

"Then  he  must  go  and  play  at  the  end  of  the  room, 
and  not  interrupt  our  conversation." 

Mr.  Reginald  consented  with  rapture.  He  had  got  a 
new  puzzle.  He  could  play  at  it  in  a  corner;  all  he 
wanted  was  to  be  able  to  stop  Jane's  mouth,  should  she 
ever  jeer  him  again.  Reginald  thus  disposed  of,  Mr. 
Bazalgette  invited  David  to  replenish  his  glass,  and  sit 
round  to  the  fire.  The  fire  was  huge  and  glowing,  the 
cut  glass  sparkled,  and  the  ruby  wine  glowed,  and  even 


324  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

the  faces  shone,  and  all  invited  genial  talk.  Yet  David, 
on  the  eve  of  his  departure  and  of  his  fate,  oppressed 
with  suspense  and  care,  was  out  of  the  reach  of  those 
genial,  superficial  influences.  He  could  only  just  mutter 
a  Avord  of  assent  here  and  there,  then  relapsed  into  his 
reverie,  and  eyed  the  fire  thoughtfully  as  if  his  destiny 
lay  there  revealed.  Mr.  Bazalgette,  on  the  contrary, 
glowed  more  and  more  in  manner  as  well  as  face,  and, 
like  many  more  of  his  countrymen,  seemed  to  imbibe 
friendship  with  each  fresh  glass  of  port. 

At  last,  under  the  double  influence  of  his  real  liking 
for  David,  and  of  the  Englishman-thawing  Portuguese 
decoction,  he  gave  his  favorite  a  singular  proof  of  friend- 
ship. It  came  about  as  follows.  Observing  that  he  had 
all  the  talk  to  himself,  he  fixed  his  eyes  with  an  expres- 
sion of  paternal  benevolence  on  his  companion,  and  was 
silent  in  turn. 

David  looked  up  as  we  all  do  when  a  voice  ceases,  and 
saw  this  mild  gaze  dwelling  on  him. 

^'Dodd,  my  boy,  you  don't  say  a  word;  what  is  the 
matter  ?  " 

"  I  am  very  bad  company,  sir :  that  is  the  truth." 

"Well,  fill  your  glass,  then,  and  I'll  talk  for  you.  I 
have  got  something  to  say  to  you,  young  gentleman." 
David  filled  his  glass,  and  forced  himself  to  attend ;  after 
a  while  no  effort  was  needed. 

"Dodd,"  resumed  the  mature  merchant,  "I  need  hardly 
tell  you  that  I  have  a  particular  regard  for  you  ;  the  rea- 
son is,  you  are  a  young  man  of  uncommon  merit." 

"  Mr.  Bazalgette !  sir !  I  don't  know  which  way  to 
look  when  you  praise  me  like  that.  It  is  your  goodness, 
you  overrate  me." 

"No  I  don't.  I  am  a  judge  of  men.  I  have  seen 
thousands,  and  seen  them  too  close  to  be  taken  in  by 
their  outside.     You  are  the  only  one  of  my  wife's  friends 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  325 

that  ever  had  the  run  of  my  study :  what  do  you  think 
of  that,  now?" 

"  I  am  very  proud  of  it,  sir ;  that  is  all  I  can  find  to 
say." 

"  Well,  young  man,  that  same  good  opinion  I  have  of 
you  induces  me  to  do  something  else  for  you,  that  I  have 
never  done  before  for  any  of  your  predecessors." 

Mr.  Bazalgette  paused.  David's  heart  beat.  Quick  as 
lightning  it  darted  through  his  mind :  "  He  is  going  to 
ask  a  favor  for  me.  Promotion  ?  Why  not  ?  He  is  a 
merchant.     He  has  friends  in  '  the  Company.' " 

"  I  am  going  to  interfere  in  your  concerns,  Dodd." 

"  You  are  very  good,  sir." 

"  Well,  perhaps  I  am.  I  have  to  overcome  a  natural 
reluctance.  But  you  are  worth  the  struggle.  I  shall 
therefore  go  against  the  usages  of  the  world,  which  I 
don't  care  a  button  for,  and  my  own  habits,  which  I  care 
a  great  deal  for,  and  give  you,  —  humph,  —  a  piece  of 
friendly  advice." 

David  looked  blank. 

"Dodd,  my  boy,  you  are  playing  the  fool  in  this 
house." 

David  looked  blanker. 

"It  is  not  your  fault,  you  are  led  into  it  by  one  of 
those  sweet  creatures  that  love  to  reduce  men  to  the 
level  of  their  own  wisdom ;  you  are  in  love,  or  soon  will 
be." 

David  colored  all  over  like  a  girl,  and  his  face  of  dis- 
tress was  painful  to  see. 

"  You  need  not  look  so  frightened  ;  I  am  your  friend, 
not  your  enemy.  And  do  you  really  think  others  besides 
me  have  not  seen  what  is  going  on  ?  Now,  Dodd,  my 
dear  fellow,  I  am  an  old  man,  and  you  are  a  young  one. 
Moreover,  I  understand  the  lady,  and  you  don't." 

"  That  is  true,  sir ;  I  feel  I  cannot  fathom  her." 


326  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

"  Poor  fellow  !  well,  but  I  have  known  her  longer  than 
you." 

*'  That  is  true,  sir." 

"  And  on  closer  terms  of  intimacy." 

''  No  doubt,  sir." 

"Then  listen  to  me.  She  is  all  very  charming,  out- 
side :  and  full  of  sensibility,  outside ;  but  she  has  no 
more  real  feeling  than  a  fish.  She  will  go  a  certain 
length  with  you,  or  with  any  agreeable  young  man ;  but 
she  can  always  stop  where  it  suits  her.  No  lady  in  Eng- 
land values  position  and  luxury  more  than  she  does,  or 
is  less  likely  to  sacrifice  them  to  love,  a  passion  she  is 
incapable  of.  Here,  then,  is  a  game  at  which  you  run  all 
the  risk.  No  !  leave  her  to  puppies  like  Kenealy  ;  they 
are  her  natural  prey.  You  must  not  play  such  a  heart  as 
yours  against  a  marble-taw.     It  is  not  an  even  stake." 

David  groaned  audibly.  His  first  thought  was  :  "  Eve 
says  the  same  of  her."  His  second :  "  All  the  world  is 
against  her,  poor  thing." 

"  Is  she  to  bear  the  blame  of  my  folly  ?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  She  is  the  cause  of  your  folly.  It 
began  with  her  setting  her  caj)  at  you." 

"  No,  sir,  you  do  her  wrong.     She  is  modesty  itself." 

"  Ta,  ta,  ta !  you  are  a  sailor,  green  as  sea-weed." 

"  Mr.  Bazalgette,  as  I  am  a  gentleman,  she  never  has 
encouraged  me  to  love  her  as  I  do." 

"Your  statement,  sir,  is  one  which  becomes  a  gentle- 
man—  under  the  circumstances.  But  I  happen  to  have 
Avatched  her.  It  is  a  thing  I  have  taken  the  trouble  to 
do  for  some  time  past.  It  was  my  interest  in  you  that 
made  me  curious,  and  apprehensive  —  on  your  account." 

"  Then  if  you  have  watched  her  you  must  have  seen 
her  avoid  me." 

"  Pooh !  pooh  !  that  was  drawing  the  bait ;  these  old 
stagers  can  all  do  that." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME    LONG.  327 

''  Old  stagers ! "  and  David  looked  as  if  blasphemy 
had  been  uttered.  Bazalgette  wore  a  grin  of  infinite 
irony. 

"  Don't  be  shocked,"  said  he  ;  "  of  course  I  mean  old  in 
flirtation ;  no  lady  is  old  in  years." 

"  Slie  is  not,  at  all  events.  " 

"  It  is  agreed.  There  are  legal  fictions ;  and  why  not 
social  ones  ?  '' 

"  I  don't  understand  you,  sir ;  and,  in  truth,  it  is  all  a 
puzzle  to  me.     You  don't  seem  angry  with  me." 

"  Why,  of  course  not ;  my  poor  fellow,  I  pity  you." 

"  Yet  you  discourage  me,  Mr.  Bazalgette." 

"But  not  from  any  selfish  motive.     I  want  to  spare 
you  the  mortification  that  is  in  store  for  you.     Remem- 
ber, I  have  seen  the  end  of  about  a  dozen  of  you." 
,     "  Good  heavens  !     And  what  is  the  end  of  us  ?  " 

"  The  cold  shoulder  without  a  day's  warning,  and  an- 
other fool  set  in  your  place,  and  the  house-door  slammed 
in  your  face,  etc.,  etc.  Oh  !  with  her  there  is  but  one  step 
from  flirtation  to  detestation.  Not  one  of  her  flames  is 
her  friend  at  this  moment." 

David  hung  his  head,  and  his  heart  turned  sick  ;  there 
was  a  silence  of  some  seconds,  during  which  Bazalgette 
eyed  him  keenly.  "  Sir,"  said  David,  at  last,  "  your 
words  go  through  me  like  a  knife." 

"Never  mind.  It  is  a  friendly  surgeon's  knife,  not 
an  assassin's." 

"  Yet  you  say  it  is  only  out  of  regard  for  me  you  warn 
me  so  against  her." 

"  I  repeat  it." 

"  Then,  sir,  if,  by  heaven's  mercy,  you  should  be  mis- 
taken in  her  character,  if,  little  as  I  deserve  it,  I  should 
succeed  in  Avinning  her  regard,  I  might  reckon  on  your 
permission,  on  your  kind  —  support !  " 

"Hardly,"    said    Mr.   Bazalgette,   hastily.      He    then 


328  LOVE    ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

stared  at  the  honest,  earnest  face  that  was  turned  to- 
wards him.  "  Well,"  said  he,  "  you  modest  gentlemen 
have  certainly  a  marvellous  fund  of  assurance  at  bottom. 
No,  sir,  with  the  exception  of  this  piece  of  friendly 
advice  I  shall  be  strictly  neutral.  In  return  for  it,  if 
you  should  succeed,  be  so  good  as  to  take  her  out  of  the 
house ;  that  is  the  only  stipulation  1  venture  to  propose." 
"  I  should  be  sure  to  do  that,"  cried  David,  lifting  his 
eyes  to  heaven  with  rapture ;  "  but  I  shall  not  have  the 
chance." 

"  So  I  keep  telling  you,  you  might  as  well  hope  to 
tempt  a  statue  of  the  Goddess  Flirtation.  She  infinitely 
prefers  wealth  a,nd  vanity  to  anything,  even  to  vice." 

"  Vice,  sir ;  is  that  a  term  for  us  to  apply  to  a  lady  like 
her  whom  we  are  all  unworthy  to  approach  ? "  and 
David  turned  very  red. 

"  Well,  you  need  not  quarrel  with  me  about  her,  as  I 
don't  with  you." 

"  Quarrel  with  you,  dear  sir !  I  hope  I  feel  your  kind- 
ness, and  know  my  duty  better :  but,  sir,  I  am  agitated,  and 
my  heart  is  troubled  :  and  surely  you  go  beyond  reason. 
She  is  not  old  enough  to  have  had  so  many  lovers." 
"  Humph  !  she  has  made  good  use  of  her  time." 
"Even  could  I  believe  that  she,  Avho  seems  to  me  an 
angel,  is  a  coquette,  still  she  cannot  be  hard  and  heart- 
less as  you  describe  her.  It  is  impossible ;  it  does  not 
belong  to  her  years." 

"  You  keep  harping  on  her  age,  Dodd.     Do  you  know 
her  age  ?  if  you  do,  you  have  the  advantage  of  me.     I 
have  not  seen  her  baptismal  register.     Have  you  ?  " 
"No,  sir;  but  I  know  what  she  says  is  her  age." 
"That  is  only  evidence  of  what  is  not  her  age." 
"  But  there  is  her  face,  sir;  that  is  evidence." 
"  You  have  never  seen  her  face ;  it  is  always  got  up  to 
deceive  the  public." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  329 

"I  have  seen  it  at  the  dawn,  before  any  of  you 
were  up." 

"  What  is  that  ?  hallo  !  the  deuce  —where  ?  " 

"  In  the  garden." 

"In  the  garden?  oh!  she  does  not  jump  off  her  down 
bed  on  to  a  flower-bed.  She  had  been  an  hour  at  work 
on  that  face  before  ever  the  sun  or  you  got  leave  to  look 
on  it." 

"  I'll  stake  my  head  I  can  tell  her  age  within  a  year, 
Mr.  Bazalgette." 

"No,  you  will  not,  nor  within  ten  years." 

"  Tliat  is  soon  seen.     I  call  her  one-and-twenty." 

"  One-and-twenty  !  You  are  mad  !  Why  she  has  had 
a  child  that  would  be  fifteen  now  if  it  had  lived." 

"  Miss  Lucy  ?  A  child  ?  Fifteen  years  ?  What  on 
earth  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  AVhat  do  you  mean  ?  What  has  Miss  Lucy  to  do 
with  it  ?  You  know  very  well  it  is  my  wife  I  am  warn- 
ing you  against,  not  that  innocent  girl." 

At  this  David  burst  out  in  his  turn,  "  Your  wife  !  and 
have  you  so  vile  an  opinion  of  me  as  to  think  I  would 
eat  your  bread,  and  tempt  your  wife  under  your  roof  ? 
Oh,  Mr.  Bazalgette,  is  this  the  esteem  you  profess  for 
me  ?  " 

"  Go  to  the  devil ! "  shouted  Bazalgette,  in  double  ire 
at  his  own  blunder,  and  at  being  taken  to  task  by  his 
own  Telemachus ;  he  added,  but  in  a  very  different  tone, 
"  You  are  too  good  for  this  world." 

The  best  things  we  say  miss  fire  in  conversation ;  only 
second-rate  shots  hit  the  mind  tlirough  the  ear.  This, 
we  will  suppose,  is  why  David  derived  no  amusement  or 
delectation  from  Mr.  Bazalgette's  inadvertent  but  admir- 
able bon  mot  : 

"  Go  to  the  devil !  you  are  too  good  for  this  world." 

He  merely  rose,  and  said  gravely,  "  Heaven  forgive 


330  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

you  your  unjust  suspicions,  and  God  bless  you  for  your 
other  kindness  — good-by." 

"  Why,  where  on  earth  are  you  going  ?  " 

"  To  stow  away  my  things ;  to  pack  up,  as  they  call 
it." 

"  Come  back  !  come  back  !  why,  what  a  terrible  fellow 
you  are  ;  you  make  no  allowance  for  metaphors.  There, 
forgive  me,  and  shake  hands.  Now,  sit  down.  I  esteem 
you  more  than  ever.  You  have  come  down  from  another 
age,  and  a  much  better  one  than  this.  Now  let  us  be 
calm,  quiet,  sensible,  tranquil.  Hallo !  (starting  up  in 
agitation),  a  sudden  light  bursts  on  me.  You  are  in  love, 
and  not  with  my  wife  ;  then  it  is  with  my  ward." 

"  It  is  too  late  to  deny  it,  sir." 

"That  is  far  more  serious  than  the  other,"  said 
Bazalgette  very  gravely  ;  "  the  old  one  would  have  been 
sure  to  cure  you  of  your  fancy  for  her,  soon  or  late  — 
but  Lucy  !  Now,  just  look  at  that  young  buffer's  eyes 
glaring  at  us  like  a  pair  of  saucers." 

"  I  am  not  listening,  papa ;  I  haven't  heard  a  word 
you  and  Mr.  Dodd  have  said  about  naughty  ladies.  1 
have  been  such  a  good  boy,  minding  my  puzzle." 

"  I  wish  he  may  not  have  been  minding  ours  instead," 
muttered  his  sire,  and  rang  the  bell,  and  ordered  the 
servant  to  take  away  Master  Reginald,  and  bring  coffee. 

The  pair  sipped  their  coffee  in  dead  silence.  It  was 
broken  at  last  by  David  saying  sadly  and  a  little  bitterly, 
"I  fear,  sir,  your  good  opinion  of  me  does  not  go  the 
length  of  letting  me  come  into  your  family." 

The  merchant  seemed  during  the  last  live  minutes  to 
have  undergone  some  starching  process,  so  changed  was 
his  whole  manner  now ;  so  distant,  dignified,  and  stiff. 
"Mr.  Dodd,"  said  he,  "I  am  in  a  difficult  position. 
Insincerity  is  no  part  of  my  character.  AVhen  I  say  I 
have  a  regard  for  a  man,  I  mean  it.     But  I  am  the  young 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  331 

lady's  guardian,  sir  :  slie  is  a  minor  tliougli  on  the  verge 
of  her  majority,  and  I  cannot  advise  her  to  a  match, 
which,  in  the  received  sense,  would  be  a  very  bad  one 
for  her.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  so  many  insuper- 
able obstacles  between  you  and  her,  that  I  need  not  com- 
bat my  personal  sentiments  so  far  as  to  act  against  you  ; 
it  would  indeed  hardly  be  just,  as  I  have  surprised  your 
secret  unfairly,  though  with  no  unfair  intention.  My 
promise  not  to  act  hostilely  implies  that  I  shall  not 
reveal  this  conversation,  or  its  result,  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette ; 
if  I  did  I  should  launch  the  deadliest  of  all  enemies, 
irritated  vanity,  upon  you ;  for  she  certainly  looks  on 
you  as  her  plaything,  not  her  niece's  :  and  you  would 
instantly  be  the  victim  of  her  spite,  and  of  her  influence 
over  Lucy,  if  she  discovered  you  have  the  insolence  to 
escape  her,  and  pursue  another  of  her  sex.  I  shall  there- 
fore keep  silence  and  neutrality.  Meantime,  in  the  char- 
acter, not  of  her  guardian,  but  of  your  friend,  I  do  strongly 
advise  you  not  to  think  seriously  of  her.  She  will  never 
marry  you.  She  is  a  good,  kind,  amiable  creature,  but 
still  she  is  a  girl  of  the  world ;  has  all  its  lessons  at  her 
finger-ends.  Bless  your  heart,  these  meek  beauties  are 
as  ambitious  as  Lucifer,  and  this  one's  ambition  is  fed 
by  constant  admiration,  by  daily  matrimonial  discussions 
with  the  old  stager,  and  I  believe  by  a  good  offer  every 
now  and  then,  which  she  refuses,  because  she  is  waiting 
for  a  better.  Come,  now,  it  only  Avants  one  good 
wrench." 

David  interrupted  him  mildly.  "  Then,  sir,"  said  he 
thoughtfully,  "the  upshot  is,  that  if  she  says  'yes,'  you 
won't  say  '  no.' " 

The  mature  merchant  stared. 

"  If ! "  said  he,  and  with  this  short  sentence  and  a 
sardonic  grin,  he  broke  off  trying 

"  To  fetter  flame  with  flaxen  band." 


332  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

So  nothing  more  was  said  or  done  that  evening  worth 
recording. 

The  next  day,  being  the  day  of  the  masquerade,  was 
devoted  by  the  ladies  to  the  making,  altering,  and  trying 
on  of  dresses  in  their  bedrooms.  This  turned  the  down- 
stairs rooms  so  dark  and  unlovely,  that  the  gentlemen 
deserted  the  house  one  after  the  other.  Kenealy  and 
Talboys  rode  up  to  see  a  cricket-match  ten  miles  off; 

Hardie  drove  into  the  town  of ;  and  David  paced  the 

gravel-walk,  in  hopes  that  by  keeping  near  the  house  he 
might  find  Lucy  alone,  for  he  was  determined  to  know 
his  fate  and  end  his  intolerable  suspense. 

He  had  paced  the  walk  about  an  hour,  when  fortune 
seemed  to  favor  his  desires.  Lucy  came  out  into  the 
garden.  David's  heart  beat  violently.  To  his  great 
annoyance,  Mr.  Fountain  followed  her  out  of  the  house, 
and  called  her.  She  stopped,  and  he  joined  her;  and 
very  soon  uncle  and  niece  Avere  engaged  in  a  conversa- 
tion, which  seemed  so  earnest  that  David  withdrew  to 
another  part  of  the  garden  not  to  interfere  with  them. 

He  waited,  and  waited,  and  waited,  till  they  should 
separate  ;  but  no,  they  walked  more  and  more  slowly, 
and  the  conversation  seemed  to  deepen  in  interest. 
David  chafed.  If  he  had  known  the  nature  of  that  con- 
versation he  would  have  writhed  with  torture  as  well  as 
fretted  with  impatience.  Por  there  the  hand  of  her  he 
loved  was  sought  in  marriage  before  his  eyes,  and  with- 
in a  few  steps  of  him.  On  such  threads  hangs  human 
life.  Had  he  been  at  the  hall-door  instead  of  in  the 
garden,  he  might  have  anticipated  Mr.  Fountain.  As  it 
was,  Mr.  Fountain  stole  the  march  on  him. 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  333 


CHAPTER   XV. 

To-morrow  Lucy  had  agreed  to  sail,  and  in  the  boat 
Mr.  Talboys  was  to  ask  and  win  her  hand.  But  from 
the  first  jNIr.  Fountain  had  never  a  childlike  confidence 
in  the  scheme,  and  his  understanding  kept  rebelling 
against  it  more  and  more, 

"  The  man  that  means  to  pop,  pops,"  said  he  ;  "  one 
needn't  go  to  sea  —  to  pop.  Terra  firma  is  poppable  on, 
if  it  is  nothing  else.  These  young  fellows  are  like 
novices  with  a  gun  ;  the  bird  must  be  in  a  position,  or 
they  can't  shoot  it  —  with  their  pop-guns:  the  young 
sparks  in  my  day  could  pop  them  d-own  flying.  We 
popped  out  walking,  popped  out  riding,  popped  dancing, 
popped  psalm-singing.  Talboys  could  not  pop  on  horse- 
back, because  the  lady's  pony  fidgeted,  not  his.  AVell,  it 
will  be  so  to-morrow.  The  boat  will  misbehave,  or  the 
wind  will  be  easterly,  and  I  shall  be  told  southerly  is 
the  popping  wind.  The  truth  is,  he  is  faint-hearted. 
His  sires  conquered  England,  and  he  is  afraid  of  a 
young  girl.  I'll  end  this  nonsense.  He  shall  pop  by 
proxy." 

In  pursuance  of  this  resolve,  seeing  his  niece  pass 
through  the  hall  with  her  garden  hat  on,  he  called  to  her 
that  he  would  get  his  hat  and  join  her.  They  took  one 
turn  together  almost  in  silence.  Fountain  was  thinking 
how  he  should  best  open  the  subject,  and  Lucy  waiting 
after  her  own  fashion  ;  for  she  saw  by  the  old  man's 
manner  he  had  something  to  say  to  her. 

"  Lucy,  my  dear,  I  leave  you  in  a  day  or  two." 

"  So  soon,  imcle  ?  " 


334  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"And  it  depends  on  j^oii  whether  I  am  to  go  away  a 
happy  or  a  disappointed  old  man." 

At  these  words,  to  which  she  was  too  cautious  to  reply 
in  words,  Lucy  wore  a  puzzled  air :  but  underneath  it  a 
keen  observer  might  have  noticed  her  cheek  pale  a  little, 
a  very  little,  and  a  quiver  of  suppressed  agitation  pass 
over  her  like  a  current  of  air  in  summer  over  a  smooth 
lake. 

Receiving  no  answer,  Mr.  Fountain  went  on  to  remind 
her  that  he  was  her  only  kinsman;  Mrs.  Bazalgette  being 
her  relation  by  half-blood  only ;  and  told  her  that,  look- 
ing on  himself  as  her  father,  he  had  always  been  anxious 
to  see  her  position  in  life  seciired  before  his  own  death. 

"  I  have  been  ambitious  for  you,  my  dear,"  said  he ; 
"  but  not  more  so  than  your  beauty  and  accomplishments 
and  your  family  name  entitle  us  to  be.  Well,  my  am- 
bition for  you,  and  my  affection  for  you,  are  both  about 
to  be  gratified ;  at  least,  it  now  rests  with  you  to  gratify 
them.     Will  you  be  Mrs.  Talboys  ?  " 

Lucy  looked  down,  and  said  demurely,  "  What  a  ques- 
tion for  a  third  person  to  put !  " 

"  Should  I  put  it  if  I  had  not  a  right  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  You  ought  to  know,  Lucy." 

"  Mr.  Talboys  has  authorized  you,  dear  ?  " 

"  He  has." 

"  Then,  this  is  a  formal  proposal  from  Mt.  Talboys  ?  " 

"Of  course  it  is,"  said  the  old  gentleman  fearlessly; 
for  Lucy's  manner  of  putting  these  questions  was  color- 
less, nobody  would  have  guessed  what  she  was  at. 

She  now  threw  her  arm  round  her  uncle's  neck,  and 
kissed  him,  which  made  him  exult  prematurely. 

"  Then,  dear  uncle,"  said  she  lovingly,  "  you  must  tell 
Mr.  Talboys,  that  I  thank  him  for  the  honor  he  does  me, 
and  that  I  decline." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    ME    LONG.  336 

"Accept,  you  mean." 

"Xo,  I  don't.     Ha!  ha!" 

Her  laugh  died  rapidly  away  at  sight  of  the  effect  of 
her  words.  Mr.  Fountain  started,  and  his  face  turned 
red  and  pale  alternately. 

"  Refuse  my  friend  —  refuse  Talboys  in  that  way  ? 
Thoughtless  girl,  you  don't  know  what  you  are  doing. 
His  family  is  all  but  noble  —  what  am  I  saying?  Noble? 
Why,  half  the  House  of  Peers  is  sprung  from  the  dregs 
of  the  people ;  and  got  there  either  by  pettifogging  in 
the  law  courts,  or  by  selling  consciences  in  the  Lower 
House ;  and  of  the  other  half  that  are  gentlemen  of 
descent,  not  two  in  twenty  can  show  a  pedigree  like 
Talboys.  And  with  that  name  a  princely  mansion,  an- 
tiquity stamped  on  it,  stands  in  its  own  park,  in  the 
middle  of  its  vast  estates,  with  title-deeds  in  black-letter, 
girl." 

"  But,  uncle,  all  this  is  encumbered  "  — 

"It  is  false  !  Who  ever  told  you  so?  There  is  not  a 
mortgage  on  any  part  of  it,  only  a  few  trifling  copy-holds 
and  peppercorn  rents." 

"  You  misunderstand  me ;  I  was  going  to  say,  it  is 
encumbered  with  a  gentleman  for  whom  I  could  never  feel 
affection,  because  he  does  not  inspire  me  with  respect." 

"Nonsense!  he  inspires  universal  respect." 

"It  must  be  by  his  estates  then,  not  his  character. 
You  know,  uncle,  the  world  is  more  apt  to  ask,  What 
has  he,  than  what  is  he  ?  " 

"  He  is  a  polished  gentleman." 

"  But  not  a  well-bred  one." 

"  The  best-bred  I  ever  saw." 

"Then  you  never  looked  in  a  glass,  dear.  No,  dear 
uncle,  I  will  tell  you.  Mr.  Talboys  has  seen  the  world, 
has  kept  good  society,  is  at  his  ease  (a  great  point),  and 
is  perfect  in  externals.     But  his  good  manners  are  — 


336  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

what  shall  I  say  ?  coat  deep.  His  politeness  is  not 
proof  against  temptation,  however  petty.  The  reason 
is,  it  is  only  a  spurious  politeness.  Eeal  politeness  is 
founded  and  built  on  the  Golden  Eule,  however  delicate 
and  artificial  its  superstructure  may  be.  But  leaving 
out  of  the  question  the  politeness  of  the  heart,  he  has 
not  in  any  sense  the  true  art  of  good-breeding ;  he  has 
only  the  common  traditions.  Put  him  in  a  novel  situa- 
tion with  no  rules  and  examples  to  guide  him,  he  would 
be  maladroit  as  a  schoolboy  or  college-boy.  He  is  just 
the  counterpart  of  Mr.  Dodd  in  that  respect.  Poor  Mr. 
Dodd  is  always  shocking  one  by  violating  the  commonest 
rules  of  society ;  but  every  now  and  then  he  bursts  out 
with  a  flash  of  natural  courtesy,  so  bright,  so  refined,  so 
original,  yet  so  worthy  of  imitation,  that  you  say  to  your- 
self. This  is  a  genius,  the  genius  of  good-breeding." 

Mr.  Fountain  chafed  with  impatience  during  this  tirade, 
in  which  he  justly  suspected  an  attempt  to  fritter  away 
a  serious  discussion. 

"  Come  off  your  hobby,  Lucy,"  cried  he,  "  and  speak 
to  me  like  a  woman,  and  like  my  niece.  If  this  is  your 
objection,  overcome  it  for  my  sake." 

"I  would,  dear,"  said  Lucy,  "but  it  is  only  one  of  my 
objections,  and  by  no  means  the  most  serious." 

On  being  invited  to  come  at  once  to  the  latter,  Lucy 
hesitated.  "Would  not  that  be  unamiable  on  my  part? 
Mr.  Talboys  has  just  paid  me  the  highest  compliment  a 
gentleman  can  pay  a  lady ;  it  is  for  me  to  decline  him 
courteously,  not  abuse  him  to  his  friend  —  and  repre- 
sentative." 

"  No  humbug,  Lucy,  if  you  please.  I  am  in  no  humor 
for  it." 

"  We  should  all  be  savages  without  a  little  humbug." 

"  I  am  waiting." 

"  Tken  pledge  me  your  word  of  honor,  no  word  of  what 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  337 

I  now  say  to  the  disadvantage  of  poor  Mr.  Talboys  shall 
ever  reach  him." 

"  You  may  take  your  oath  of  that." 

"  Then  he  is  a  detractor,  a  character  I  despise." 

"  Who  does  he  detract  from  ?     I  never  heard  him." 

"  From  all  his  superiors  ;  in  other  words,  from  every- 
body he  meets.  Did  you  ever  know  him  fail  to  sneer  at 
Mr.  Hardie  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  that  is  the  offence,  is  it  ?  " 

"  No,  it  is  the  same  with  others.  There,  the  other  day, 
Mr.  Dodd  joined  us  on  horseback.  He  did  not  dress  for 
the  occasion.  He  had  no  straps  on.  He  came  in  a  hurry 
to  have  our  society,  not  to  cut  a  dash.  But  there  was 
Mr.  Talboys,  who  can  only  do  this  one  thing  well,  and 
who,  thanks  to  his  servant,  had  straps  on,  sneering  the 
whole  time  at  Mr.  Dodd,  who  has  mastered  a  dozen  far 
more  difficult  and  more  honorable  accomplishments  than 
putting  on  straps,  and  sitting  on  horses.  But  he  is 
always  backbiting  and  sneering.  He  admires  nothing 
and  nobody." 

"  He  has  admired  you  ever  since  he  saw  you." 

"  What,  has  he  never  sneered  at  me  ?  " 

"Never,  ungrateful  girl,  never." 

"  Then  that  is  very  humiliating.  He  takes  me  for  his 
inferior.  His  superiors  he  always  sneers  at.  If  he  had 
seen  anything  good  or  spirited  in  me,  he  could  not  have 
helped  detracting  from  me.  Is  not  this  a  serious  reason, 
that  I  despise  the  person  who  now  solicits  my  love, 
honor,  and  obedience  ?  Well,  then,  there  is  another,  a 
stronger  still,  but  perhaps  you  will  call  it  a  woman's 
reason." 

"I  know  —  you  don't  like  him  ;  that  is,  you  fancy  you 
don't,  and  can't." 

"  No,  uncle,  it  is  not  that  I  don't  like  him.     It  is  that 

I    HATE    HIM." 
22 


338  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

''  You  hate  him  ?  "  and  Mr.  Fountain  looked  at  her  to 
see  if  it  was  his  niece  Lucy  who  was  uttering  words  so 
entire!}^  out  of  character. 

"  I  am  but  a  poor  hater.  I  have  but  little  practice ; 
but  with  all  the  power  of  hating  I  do  possess,  I  hate  that 
Mr.  Talboys.  Oh,  uncle  !  how  delicious  it  is  to  speak 
one's  mind  for  once.  It  is  a  luxury  I  seldom  indulge  in. 
Yes,  uncle,"  said  Lucy,  clenching  her  white  teeth,  "I 
hate  that  man,  and  I  did  hope  his  proposal  would  have 
come  from  himself ;  then  there  would  have  been  nothing 
to  alloy  my  quiet  satisfaction  at  mortifying  one  who  is 
so  ready  to  mortify  others.  But,  no,  he  has  bewitched 
you ;  and  you  take  his  part,  and  you  look  vexed,  so  all 
my  pleasure  is  turned  to  pain." 

"  It  is  all  self-deception,"  gasped  Fountain,  in  consider- 
able agitation.  "  You  girls  are  always  deceiving  your- 
selves, you  none  of  you  hate  any  man  —  unless  you  love 
him.  He  tells  me  you  have  encouraged  him  of  late. 
You  had  better  tell  me  that  is  a  lie  !  *' 

"  A  lie,  uncle  !  what  an  expression.  Mr.  Talboys  is  a 
gentleman.     He  would  not  tell  a  falsehood,  I  presume." 

"  Aha !  it  is  true  then,  you  have  encouraged  him." 

"  A  little." 

"  There,  you  see ;  the  moment  we  come  from  generali- 
ties to  facts,  what  a  simpleton  you  are  proved  to  be. 
Come,  now,  did  you  or  did  you  not  agree  to  go  in  a  boat 
with  him  ?  " 

"  I  did,  dear." 

"  That  was  a  pretty  strong  measure,  Lucy." 

"  Very  strong,  I  think.     I  can  tell  you  I  hesitated." 

"]S"ow  you  see  how  you  have  mistaken  your  own 
feelings." 

Lucy  hung  her  head.  *'  Oil,  uncle,  you  call  me  simjile, 
and  look  at  you !  fancy  not  seeing;  why,  I  agreed  to  go  — 
^dans  cette  galhre.''   It  was  that  Mr.  Talboys  might  declare 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   IME    LONG.  339 

himself,  and  so  I  might  get  rid  of  him  forever.  I  saw 
that  if  I  could  not  bring  him  to  the  point,  he  would 
dangle  about  me  for  years,  and,  perhaps,  at  last  succeed 
in  irritating  me  to  rudeness.  But  now,  of  course,  I  shall 
stay  on  shore  with  my  uncle  to-morrow.  'QuHrais-jefaire 
dans  cette  galere  ? '  you  have  done  it  all  for  me.  Oh,  my 
dear,  dear  uncle  !  I  am  so  grateful  to  you." 

She  showed  symptoms  of  caressing  Mr.  Fountain,  but 
he  recoiled  from  her  angrily.  "  Viper !  but,  no,  this  is 
not  you.  There  is  a  deeper  hand  than  you  in  all  this. 
This  is  that  Mrs.  Bazalgette's  doing," 

"Ko,  indeed,  uncle." 

"  Give  me  a  proof  it  is  not." 

"  With  jjleasure,  any  proof  that  is  in  my  power." 

"  Then  promise  me  not  to  marry  Mr.  Hardie." 

"  My  dear  uncle,  Mr.  Hardie  has  never  asked  me." 

"But  he  will." 

"  What  right  have  I  to  say  so  ?  What  right  have  I 
to  constitute  Mr.  Hardie  my  admirer  ?  I  would  not  for 
all  the  world  put  it  into  any  gentleman's  power  to  say, 
'Why  say  no.  Miss  Fountain,  before  I  have  asked  you 
to  say  yes  ? '  Oh ! "  and  with  this  Lucy  put  her  face 
into  her  hands ;  but  they  were  not  large  enough  to  hide 
the  deep  blush  that  suffused  her  whole  face,  at  the  bare 
idea  of  being  betrayed  into  an  indelicacy  of  this  sort. 

"  How  could  he  say  that  ?  how  could  he  know  ?  "  said 
Mr.  Fountain  pettishly. 

"  Uncle,  I  cannot,  I  dare  not  —  you  and  my  aunt  hate 
one  another ;  so  you  might  be  tempted  to  tell  her,  and 
she  would  be  sure  to  tell  him.  Besides,  I  cannot,  my 
very  instinct  revolts  from  it.  It  would  not  be  modest. 
I  love  you,  uncle.  Let  me  know  your  wishes,  and  have 
some  faith  in  my  affection.  But  pray  do  not  press  me 
further.  Oh,  what  have  I  done  —  to  be  spoken  of  with 
so  many  gentlemen  ! " 


340  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Lucy  was  in  evident  agitation,  and  the  rising  blushes 
glowed  more  and  more  round  her  snowy  hands,  and 
between  her  delicate  fingers ;  and  there  is  something  so 
sacred  about  the  modesty  alarmed  of  an  intelligent 
young  woman  :  it  is  a  feeling  which,  however  fantastical, 
is  so  genuine  in  her,  and  so  manifestly  intense  beyond 
all  that  we  can  ourselves  feel  of  the  kind,  that  no  man, 
who  is  not  utterly  stupid  or  depraved,  can  see  it  without 
a  certain  awe.  Even  Mr.  Fountain,  who  looked  on  Lucy's 
distress  as  transcendent  folly  with  a  dash  of  hypocrisy, 
could  not  go  on  making  her  cheek  burn  so.  "  There  ! 
there  !  "  cried  he,  "  don't  torment  yourself,  Lucy.  I  will 
spare  your  fanciful  delicacy,  though  you  have  no  pity  on 
me ;  on  your  poor  old  uncle,  whose  heart  you  will  break 
if  you  decline  this  match." 

At  these  words,  and  the  old  man's  change  from  anger 
to  sadness,  Lucy  looked  up  in  dismay,  and  the  vivid 
color  died  like  a  retiring  wave  out  of  her  cheek. 

"  You  look  surprised,  Lucy.  What,  do  you  think  this 
will  not  be  a  heart-breaking  disappointment  to  me  ?  If 
you  knew  how  I  have  schemed  for  it  —  what  I  have  done 
and  endured  to  bring  it  about !  To  quarter  the  arms  of 
Fontaine  and  Talboys  !  I  put  by  the  five  thousand  pounds 
directly,  and  as  much  more  of  my  own,  that  you  should 
not  go  into  that  noble  family  without  a  proper  settle- 
ment. It  was  the  dream  of  my  heart :  I  could  have 
died  contented  the  next  hour.  More  fool  I,  to  care  for 
anybody  but  myself.  Your  selfish  people  escape  these 
bitter  disappointments.  Well,  it  is  a  lesson.  From  this 
hour  I  will  live  for  myself,  and  care  for  nobody,  for 
nobody  cares  for  me." 

These  words,  uttered  with  great  agitation,  and,  I 
believe,  with  perfect  sincerity  in  his  own  unselfishness 
and  hard  fate,  were  terrible  to  Lucy.  She  wreathed  her 
arms  suddenly  round  him. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  341 

"  Oh,  uncle,"  she  cried  despairingly,  ''  kill  me  !  send 
me  to  heaven !  send  me  to  my  mother !  But  don't  stab 
me  with  such  bitter  words ;  "  and  she  trembled  with  an 
emotion  so  much  more  powerful  and  convulsing  than 
his,  in  which  temper  had  a  large  share,  that  she  once 
more  cowed  him. 

''  There !  there  !  "  he  muttered,  ^'  I  don't  want  to  kill 
you,  child,  God  knows  ;  or  to  hurt  you  in  any  way." 

Lucy  trembled,.and  tried  to  smile.  The  good-nature, 
which  was  the  upper  crust  of  this  man's  character,  got 
the  better  of  him. 

"  There !  there !  don't  distress  yourself  so.  I  know 
Avhom  I  have  to  thank  for  all  this." 

"  She  has  not  the  power,"  said  Lucy  in  a  faint  voice, 
*'  to  make  me  ungrateful  to  you." 

Mind  is  more  rapid  than  lightning.  At  this  moment, 
in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  it  flashed  across  Lucy  that 
her  aunt  had  convinced  her,  sore  against  her  will,  there 
was  a  strong  element  of  selfishness  in  Mr.  Fountain. 
"But  it  is  that  he  deceives  himself,"  thought  Lucy;  "he 
would  sacrifice  my  happiness  to  his  hobby,  and  think  he 
had  done  it  for  love  of  me."  Enlightened  by  this  rapid 
reflection,  she  did  not  say  to  him  as  one  of  his  own  sex 
would,  — "  Look  in  your  own  heart,  and  you  will  see 
that  all  this  is  not  love  of  me,  but  of  your  own  schemes." 
Oh,  dear,  no !  that  would  not  have  been  the  woman. 
She  took  him  round  the  neck,  and,  fixing  her  sapphire 
eyes  lovingly  on  his,  she  said,  "  It  is  for  love  of  me  you 
set  your  heart  on  this  great  match  ?  You  wish  to  see 
me  well  settled  in  the  world,  and,  above  all,  happy  ?  " 

"  Of  course  it  is.  I  told  you  so.  "What  other  object 
can  I  have  ?  " 

"  Then,  if  you  saw  me  wretched,  and  degraded  in  my 
own  eyes,  your  heart  would  bleed  for  your  poor  niece  too 
late.    Well,  uncle,  I  love  you,  too,  and  I  save  you  this 


342  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

day  from  remorse.  Oh,  tliiuk  what  it  must  be  to  hate 
and  despise  a  man,  and  link  yourself,  body  and  soul,  to 
that  man  for  life  !  Oh,  think,  and  shudder  with  me, 
uncle  !  I  have  a  quick  eye.  I  have  seen  your  lip  curl 
with  contempt  when  that  fool  has  been  talking.  Ah, 
you  blush  !  you  are  too  much  his  superior  in  everything 
but  fortune,  not  to  despise  him  at  heart.  See  the  thing 
as  it  is  !  Speak  to  me  as  you  would  if  my  mother  stood 
here  beside  us,  uncle,  and  to  speak  to  me  you  must  look 
her  in  the  face.  Could  you  say  to  me  before  her, '  I  love 
you :  marry  a  man  we  both  despise '  ?  " 

Mr.  Fountain  made  no  answer.  He  was  disconcerted. 
Nothing  is  so  easy  to  resist  as  logic :  we  see  it,  as  a 
general  rule,  resisted  with  great  success  in  public  and 
private  every  day  ;  but  when  it  comes  in  good  company, 
a  voice  of  music,  an  angel  face,  gentle  persuasive  car- 
esses, and  imploring  eyes,  it  ceases  to  revolt  the  under- 
standing. And  so,  caught  in  his  own  trap,  foiled,  baffled, 
soothed,  caressed,  all  in  one  breath,  Mr.  Fountain  hung 
his  head,  and  could  not  immediately  reply. 

Lucy  followed  up  her  advantage.  ''  No,"  cried  she, 
"  say  to  me,  '  I  love  you,  Lucy :  marry  nobody,  stay  with 
your  uncle,  and  find  your  happiness  in  contributing  to 
his  comfort.'  " 

"What  is  the  use  my  saying  that,  Avhen  I  liave  got 
Mother  Bazalgette  against  me,  and  her  shopkeeper  ?  " 

"  Never  mind,  uncle,  you  say  it ;  and  time  will  show 
whether  your  influence  is  small  with  me,  and  my  affec- 
tion small  for  you ; "  and  she  looked  in  his  face  Avith 
glistening  eyes. 

"  Well,  then,"  said  he,  "  I  do  say  it,  and  I  suppose 
that  means  I  must  urge  you  no  more  about  poor  Talboys." 

A  shower  of  kisses  descended  on  him  that  moment. 
Moral :  Lose  no  time  in  sealing  a  good  bargain. 

"  Come,  now,  Lucy,  you  must  do  7ne  a  favor." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  343 

'■^  Oh,  thank  you  !  thank  you  !   what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Ay  !  but  it  is  about  Talboys,  too." 

"  Never  mind,"  faltered  Lucy,  "  if  it  is  anything  short 
of  "  —  (full  stop). 

"  It  is  a  long  way  short  of  that.  Look  here,  Lucy,  I 
must  tell  you  the  truth.  He  intends  to  ask  your  hand 
himself.  He  confided  this  to  me ;  but  he  never  author- 
ized me  to  commit  him  as  I  have  done.  So  that  this 
conversation  cannot  be  acted  on  :  it  must  be  a  secret 
between  you  and  me." 

"  Oh,  dear !  and  I  thought  I  had  got  rid  of  him  so 
nicely." 

"Don't  be  alarmed,"  groaned  Fountain,  "such  matches 
as  this  can  always  be  dropped ;  the  difficulty  is  to  bring 
them  on.  All  I  ask  of  you,  then,  is  not  to  make  mis- 
chief between  me  and  my  friend,  the  proudest  man  in 
England.  If  you  don't  value  his  friendship,  I  do.  You 
must  not  let  him  know  I  have  got  him  insulted  by  a 
refusal.  For  instance,  you  had  better  go  out  sailing 
with  him  to-morrow,  as  if  nothing  had  passed.  Will 
your  affection  for  me  carry  you  as  far  as  that  ?  " 

The  proposal  was  wormwood  to  Lucy.  So  she  smiled, 
and  said  eagerly,  "Is  that  all  ?  Why,  I  will  do  it  with 
pleasure,  dear.  It  is  not  like  being  in  the  same  boat 
with  him  for  life,  you  know.  Can  you  give  me  nothing 
more  than  that  to  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  No ;  it  does  not  do  to  test  people's  affection  too 
severely.  You  have  shown  me  that.  Go  on  with  your 
walk,  Lucy.     I  shall  go  in." 

"  May  I  not  come  with  you  ?  " 

"  No  ;  my  head  aches  with  all  this.  If  I  don't  mind 
I  shall  eat  no  dinner.  Agitation  and  vexation  don't 
agree  with  me.  I  have  carefully  avoided  them  all  my 
life.  I  must  go  in,  and  lie  down  for  an  hour ; "  and  he 
left  her  rather  abruptly. 


344  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

She  looked  after  him  ;  her  subtle  eye  noticed  directly 
that  he  walked  a  little  more  feebly  than  ixsual.  She 
ascribed  this  to  his  disappointment,  justly  perhaps  ;  for 
at  his  age  the  body  has  less  elastic  force  to  resist  a 
mental  blow.  The  sight  of  him  creeping  away  disap- 
pointed, and  leaning  heavier  than  usual  on  his  stick, 
knocked  at  her  cool  but  affectionate  heart :  she  began  to 
cry  bitterly.  When  he  was  quite  out  of  sight,  she 
turned,  and  paced  the  gravel  slowly  and  sadly.  It  was 
new  to  her  to  refuse  her  uncle  anything;  still  more 
strange  to  have  to  refuse  him  a  serious  wish.  She  was 
prepared,  thoroughly  prepared,  for  the  proposal ;  but  not 
to  find  the  old  man's  heart  so  deeply  set  upon  it.  A 
wild  impulse  came  over  her  to  call  him  back,  and  sacri- 
fice herself ;  but  the  high  spirit  and  intelligence  that  lay 
beneath  her  tenderness  and  complaisance  stood  firm. 
Yet  she  felt  almost  guilty,  and  very,  very  unhappy,  as 
we  call  it  at  her  age.  She  kept  sighing,  "  Poor  uncle  !  " 
and  paced  the  gravel  very  slowly,  hanging  her  sweet 
head,  and  crying  as  she  went. 

At  the  end  of  the  walk,  David  Dodd  stood  suddenly 
before  her.  He  came  flurried,  on  his  own  account,  but 
stopped,  thunderstruck  at  her  tears.  "  What  is  the 
matter.  Miss  Lucy  ?  "  said  he  anxiously. 

"  Oh,  nothing,  Mr.  Dodd !  "  and  they  flowed  afresh. 

"  Can  I  do  anything  for  you,  Miss  Lucy  ?  " 

"No,  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  Won't  you  tell  me  what  is  the  matter  ?  Are  you 
not  friends  with  me  to-day  ?  " 

"  I  was  put  out  by  a  very  foolish  circumstance,  Mr. 
Dodd,  and  it  is  one  with  which  I  shall  not  trouble  you, 
nor  any  person  of  sense.  I  prefer  to  retain  your  sym- 
pathy by  not  revealing  the  contemptible  cause  of  my 
babyish  —  There  !  "  She  shook  her  head  proudly,  as 
if  tears  were  to  be  dispersed  like  dewdrops.     "  There ! "' 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  345 

she  repeated ;  and  at  this  second  effort  she  smiled  radi- 
antly. 

"It  is  like  the  sun  coming  out  after  a  shower,"  cried 
David  rapturously. 

"  That  reminds  me  I  must  be  going  in,  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  Don't  say  that,  Miss  Lucy.     What  for  ?  " 

"  To  arrange  another  shower,  one  of  pearls,  on  a  dress 
I  am  to  wear  to-night." 

David  sighed.  "  Ah,  Miss  Lucy,  at  sight  of  me  you 
always  make  for  the  hall  door." 

Lucy  colored.  "  Oh !  do  I  ?  I  really  was  not  aware 
of  that.  Then,  I  suppose  I  am  afraid  of  you.  Is  that 
what  you  would  insinuate  ?  " 

"  No,  Miss  Lucy,  you  are  not  afraid  of  me ;  but  I  some- 
times fear  "  —  and  he  hesitated. 

"It  must  blow  very  hard  that  day,"  said  Lucy,  with  a 
world  of  politeness.  Her  tongue  was  too  quick  for  him. 
He  found  it  so,  and  announced  the  fact  after  his  fashion. 

"I  can't  tack  fast  enough  to  follow  you,"  said  he 
despondently. 

"  But  you  are  not  required  to  follow  me,"  replied  this 
amiable  eel,  with  hypocritical  benignity  :  "  I  am  going  to 
my  aunt's  room  to  do  what  I  told  you.  I  leave  you 
in  charge  of  the  quarter-deck."  So  saying,  she  walked 
slowly  up  the  steps,  and  left  David  standing  sorrowfully 
on  the  gravel.  At  the  top  step,  Miss  Lucy  turned  and 
inquired  gently  when  he  was  to  sail.  He  told  her  the 
ship  was  expected  to  anchor  off  the  fort  to-morrow ;  but 
she  would  not  sail  till  she  had  got  all  her  passengers  on 
board. 

"  Oh,"  said  Lucy,  with  an  air  of  reflection.  She  then 
leaned  in  an  easy  posture  against  the  wall,  and  whether 
it  was  that  she  relented  a  little,  or  that,  having  secured 
her  retreat,  she  was  now  indifferent  to  flight,  certain  it 
is  that  she  did,  after   her  own  fashion,  what  many  a 


346  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

daughter  of  Eve  has  done  before  her,  and  many  a 
duchess  and  many  a  dairymaid  will  do  after  La  Foun- 
tain and  I  are  gone  from  earth.  A  minute  ago  it  had 
been :  —  "  She  must  go  directly ;  "  the  more  opposition 
to  her  departure,  the  more  inexorable  the  necessity  for 
her  going;  opposition  withdrawn,  and  the  door  open,  she 
stayed  no  end. 

Full  twenty  minutes  did  that  young  lady  stand  there 
unsolicited,  and  chat  with  David  Dodd  in  the  kindest, 
sweetest,  most  amicable  way  imaginable. 

She  little  knew  she  had  an  auditor,  a  female  auditor, 
keen  as  a  lynx. 

All  this  day  Reginald  George  Bazalgette,  Esq.,  might 
have  been  defined  "a  pest  in  search  of  a  playmate." 
Tom  had  got  a  holiday.  Lucy  only  came  out  of  her 
workshop  to  be  seized  by  Mr.  Fountain.  David,  who  was 
waiting  in  the  garden  for  Lucy,  begged  Reginald  to  ex- 
cuse him  for  once.  The  young  gentleman  had  recourse 
as  apis  alter  to  his  mamma.  He  invaded  her  bedroom, 
and  besought  her  piteously  to  play  at  battledoor.  That 
lady,  sighing  deeply  at  being  taken  from  her  dress,  con- 
sented. Her  soul  not  being  in  it,  she  played  very  badly. 
Her  cub  did  not  fail  to  tell  her  so.  "  Why,  I  can  keep 
up  a  hundred  with  ]\[r.  Dodd,"  said  he. 

"  Oh !  we  all  know  Mr.  Dodd  is  perfection,"  said  the 
lady  with  a  sneer.  She  was  piqued  with  David.  He 
had  gone  and  left  her  in  a  brutal  way,  to  make  his 
apologies  to  Lucy. 

'■'■  No  !  he  is  not,"  said  Reginald.  "  I  have  found  him 
out.     He  is  as  unjust  as  the  rest  of  you." 

"  Dear  me  !  and  pray  what  has  he  done  ?  " 

"  I  will  tell  you,  mamma,  if  you  will  promise  not  to 
tell  papa  ;  because  he  told  me  not  to  listen,  and  I  didn't 
listen,  mamma,  because,  you  know,  a  gentleman  always 
keeps  his  word;  but  they  talked  so  loud,  the  Avords  would 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   IVIE   LONG.  347 

come  into  my  ear,  I  could  not  keep  them  out ;  mamma, 
are  there  any  naughty  ladies  here  ?  " 

"  No,  my  dear." 

"  Then,  what  did  papa  mean  warning  Mr.  Dodd  against 
one  ?  " 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  began  to  listen  as  he  wished. 

"  Oh  !  he  called  her  all  the  names.  He  said  she  was  a 
statute  of  flirtation." 

"Who?     Lucy?" 

"Lucy?  no!  the  naughty  lady,  the  one  that  had 
twelve  husbands.  He  kept  warning  him,  and  warning 
him,  and  then  Mr.  Dodd  and  papa  they  began  to  quarrel 
almost,  because  Mr.  Dodd  said  the  naughty  lady  was 
quite  young,  and  papa  said  she  was  ever  so  old.  Mr. 
Dodd  said  she  was  twenty-one.  But  papa  told  him  she 
must  be  more  than  that,  because  she  had  a  child  that 
would  be  fifteen  years  old ;  only  it  died.  How  old  would 
little  sister  Emily  be  if  she  was  alive,  mamma ;  la, 
mamma,  how  pretty  you  are ;  you  have  got  red  cheeks 
like  Lucy ;  redder,  oh !  ever  so  much  redder,  and  in 
general  they  are  so  pale  before  dinner.  Let  me  kiss 
you,  mamma !  I  do  love  tlie  ladies,  when  their  cheeks 
are  red." 

"There!  there;  now  go  on,  dear;  tell  me  some  more." 

"  It  is  very  interesting,  isn't  it,  dear  mamma  ?  " 

"  It  is  amusing  at  all  events." 

"No,  it  is  not  amusing,  at  least  what  came  after  isn't: 
it  is  wicked,  it  is  unjust,  it  is  abominable." 

"  Tell  me,  dear." 

"  It  turned  out  it  wasn't  the  naughty  lady  Mr.  Dodd 
was  in  love  for,  and  who  do  you  think  he  is  in  love  of  ?  " 

"  I  have  not  an  idea." 

"  My  Lucy  !  " 

"Nonsense,  child." 

"No,  no,  mamma  !  it  is  not.     He  owned  it  plump." 


348  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

"  Are  you  quite  sure,  love  ?  " 

''  Upon  my  honor." 

"What  did  they  say  next  ?" 

"  Oh !  next  papa  began  to  talk  his  fine  "words  that  I 
don't  know  what  the  meaning  of  them  means  one  bit. 
But  Mr.  Dodd,  he  could  make  them  out,  I  suppose,  for  he 
said, '  so  then  the  upshot  is ; '  there  now,  what  is  upshot  ? 
I  don't  know.  How  stupid  grown-up  people  are ;  they 
keep  using  words  that  one  doesn't  know  the  meaning  of." 

*'  Never  mind,  love  !  tell  me.  What  came  after  up- 
shot ? "  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  soothingly,  with  great 
a^jparent  calmness,  and  flashing  eye. 

"  How  kind  you  are  to-day,  mamma !  That  is  twice 
you  have  called  me  love,  and  three  times  dear ;  only 
think.  I  should  love  you  if  you  were  always  so  kind  — 
and  your  cheeks  as  red  as  they  are  now." 

"Never  mind  my  cheeks.  What  did  Mr.  Dodd  say? 
Try  and  remember,  come,  '  the  upshot  was  — ' " 

"  The  upshot  was  —  what  was  the  upshot  ?  I  forget. 
No  !  I  remember  —  the  upshot  was  —  if  Lucy  said 
'  yes,'  papa  would  not  say  '  no,'  that  meant  to  marry 
him.  Now  didn't  you  promise  me  her  ever  so  long  ago  ; 
the  day  you  and  I  agreed  if  I  went  a  whole  day  without 
being  naughty  once,  I  should  have  her  for  ever  and  ever 
—  and  I  did  go." 

"  Go  to  Lucy's  room,  and  tell  her  to  come  to  me," 
said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  in  a  stern,  thoughtful  voice,  which 
startled  poor  Reginald  coming  so  soon  after  the  calinerie. 
However,  he  told  her  it  was  no  use  his  going  to  Lucy's 
room,  for  she  was  out  in  the  garden ;  he  had  seen  her 
there  walking  with  Mr.  Fountain.  Reginald  then  ran  to 
the  window  which  commanded  the  garden,  to  Iouk  for 
Lucy.  He  had  scarcely  reached  it  when  he  began  to 
squeak  wildly.  "  Come  here  !  come  here  !  come  here  ! " 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  at  the  window  in  a  moment,  and  lo ! 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  349 

at  the  end  of  the  garden,  walking  slowly  side  by  side, 
Avere  Lucy  and  Mr,  Dodd. 

Eidiculous  as  it  may  appear,  a  pang  of  jealousy  shot 
through  the  married  flirt's  heart,  that  made  her  almost 
feel  sick.  This  was  followed  at  the  interval  of  half  a 
second  by  as  pretty  a  little  flame  of  hatred  as  ever  the 
spretce  injuria  formce  lighted  up  in  a  coquette's  heart. 
Doubt  drove  in  its  smaller  sting  besides,  and  at  sight  of 
the  couple  she  resolved  to  have  better  evidence  than 
Reginald's,  especially  as  to  Lucy's  sentiments.  The 
plan  she  hit  upon  was  effective,  but  vulgar,  and  must 
not  be  witnessed  by  a  boy  of  inconvenient  memory, 
and  mis-timed  fluency  ;  she  got  rid  of  him  Avith  high- 
principled  dexterity. 

"  Reginald,"  said  she,  sadly,  "  you  are  a  naughty  boy, 
a  disobedient  boy,  to  listen  Avhen  your  papa  told  you  not, 
and  to  tell  me  a  pack  of  falsehoods.  I  must  either  tell 
your  papa,  or  I  must  punish  you  myself ;  I  prefer  to  do 
it  myself,  he  would  whip  you  so ; "  with  this  she  sud- 
denly opened  her  dressing-room  door,  and  pushed  the 
terrible  infant  in,  and  locked  the  door.  She  then  told 
him  through  the  keyhole  he  had  better  cease  yelling, 
because  if  he  kept  quiet  his  punishment  would  only  last 
half  an  hour,  and  she  flew  down-stairs.  There  was  a 
large  hot-house  with  two  doors,  one  of  which  came  very 
near  to  the  house-door  that  opened  into  the  garden. 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  entered  the  hot-house  at  the  other  end, 
and  hidden  by  the  exotic  trees  and  flowers,  made  rapidly 
for  the  door  Lucy  and  David  must  pass.  She  found  it 
wide  open.  She  half  shut  it,  and  slipped  behind  it,  lis- 
tening like  a  hare,  and  spying  like  a  hawk,  through  the 
hinges.  And,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  she  had  an  idea 
she  would  make  a  discovery.  As  the  finished  sportsman 
watches  a  narrow  ride  in  the  wood,  not  despairing,  by  a 
snap-shot,  to  bag  his  hare  as  she  crosses  it  though  seen 


350  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   INIE   LONG. 

but  for  a  moment,  so  the  Bazalgette  felt  sure,  that,  as  the 
couple  passed  her  ambush,  something  either  in  the  two 
sentences  they  would  have  here  to  utter,  or,  more  prob- 
ably, in  their  tones  and  general  manner,  would  reveal 
to  one  of  her  experience  on  what  footing  they  were. 

A  shrewd  calculation  !  But  things  will  be  things  : 
they  take  such  turns,  I  might  without  exaggeration  say 
twists,  that  calculation  is  puzzled  and  baffled,  and  proph- 
ecy dissolved  into  pitch-and-toss.  This  thing  turned 
just  as  not  ex2:)ected.  Primo,  instead  of  getting  only 
a  snap-shot,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  heard  every  word  of  a  long 
conversation  ;  and,  secundo,  when  she  had  heard  it  she 
could  not  tell  for  certain  on  what  footing  the  lady  and 
gentleman  were.  At  first,  from  their  familiarity  she  in- 
clined to  think  they  were  lovers  ;  but  the  more  she  lis- 
tened, the  more  doubtful  this  seemed.  Lucy  was  the 
chief  speaker,  and  what  she  said  showed  an  undisguised 
interest  in  her  companion ;  but  the  subject  accounted  in 
great  measure  for  that ;  she  was  talking  of  his  approach- 
ing voyage,  of  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  his  profes- 
sion, and  of  his  return  two  years  hence,  his  chances  of 
promotion,  etc.  But  here  was  no  proof  positive  of  love. 
They  were  acquaintances  of  some  standing ;  then  Lucy's 
manner  struck  her  as  rather  amicable  than  amorous. 
She  was  calm,  kind,  self-possessed,  and  almost  voluble. 
As  for  David,  he  only  got  in  a  word  here  and  there. 
When  he  did,  there  was  something  so  different  in  his 
voice  from  anything  he  had  ever  bestowed  on  her,  that 
she  hated  him,  and  longed  to  stick  scissors  into  him 
from  the  rear,  unseen.  At  last,  Lucy  suddenly  recol- 
lected or  seemed  to  recollect  she  was  busy,  and  retired 
hastily ;  so  hastily  that  David  saw  too  late  his  oppor- 
tunity lost.  But  the  music  of  her  voice  had  so  charmed 
him,  that  he  did  not  like  to  interrupt  it  even  to  speak  of 
that  wliich  was  nearest  his  heart.  David  sighed  deeply, 
standing  there  alone. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ^ABxSU^.      i.      00^351 

Mrs,  Bazalgette  clenched  her  little  fists,  and '  ibeked 
round  for  the  means  of  vengeance.  David  went  down  on 
his  knees.  La  Bazalgette  glared  through  the  crack,  and 
wondered  what  on  earth  he  was  at  now.  Oh  !  he  was 
praying.  "  He  loves  her.  He  is  eccentricity  itself ;  so 
he  is  praying  for  her,  and  on  viy  door-steps  "  (the  house- 
holder wounded  as  well  as  the  flirt).  It  was  lucky  she 
had  not  "  a  thunderbolt  in  her  eye  "  (Shakespeare),  or  a 
celestial  messenger  of  the  wrong  sort  would  have  de- 
scended on  the  devout  mariner.  It  was  more  than  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  could  bear  :  she  had  now  and  then,  not  often, 
unladylike  impulses.  One  of  them  had  set  her  crouch- 
ing behind  the  door  of  an  out-house  and  listening 
through  a  crack ;  and  now  she  had  another,  an  irresist- 
ible one  ;  it  was,  to  take  that  empty  flower-pot,  fling  it 
as  hard  as  ever  she  could  down  on  the  devotee,  then 
slam  the  door  quick,  fly  out  at  the  other  door,  and  leave 
her  faithless  swain  in  the  agony  of  knowing  himself 
detected  and  exposed  by  some  unknown  and  undiscov- 
erable  enemy. 

For  a  vengeance  extemporized  in  less  than  half  a 
second,  this  was  very  respectable.  Well,  she  clawed  the 
flower-pot  noiselessly,  put  her  other  hand  on  the  door, 
cast  a  hasty  glance  at  the  means  of  retreat,  and  —  things 
took  another  twist.  She  heard  the  rustle  of  a  coming 
gown,  and  drew  back  again,  and  out  came  Lucy,  and 
nearly  ran  over  David,  who  was  not  on  his  knees  in 
point  of  fact,  but  down  on  his  nose,  prostrate  Orientally. 
The  truth  is,  Lucy,  amongst  her  other  qualities  good  and 
bad,  was  a  born  housewife,  and  solicitously  careful  of 
certain  odds  and  ends  called  property.  She  found  she 
had  dropped  one  of  her  gloves  in  the  garden,  and  she 
came  back  in  a  state  of  disproportionate  uneasiness  to 
find  it,  and  nearly  ran  over  David  Dodd. 

"  What  are  you  doing,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 


^552  ^y/hf-iy.^r;^  LIT'TLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

iO^Vid  rose  from  his  Oriental  position,  and  being  a 
young  man  wliose  impulse  always  was  to  tell  the  simple 
truth,  replied,  "  I  Avas  kissing  the  place  where  you  stood 
so  long." 

He  did  not  feel  he  had  done  anything  extraordinary, 
so  he  gave-  her  this  information  composedly ;  but  her 
face  was  scarlet  in  an  instant ;  and  he,  seeing  that,  began 
to  blush  too.  For  once  Lucy's  tact  was  baffled :  she  did 
not  know  what  on  earth  to  say,  and  she  stood  blusliing 
like  a  girl  of  fifteen.     Then  she  tried  to  turn  it  off. 

"  Mr.  Dodd,  how  can  you  be  so  ridiculous  ?  "  said  she, 
affecting  humorous  disdain. 

But  David  was  not  to  be  put  down  now :  he  was 
launched. 

"  I  am  not  ridiculous  for  loving  and  worshipping  you, 
for  you  are  worthy  of  even  more  love  than  any  human 
heart  can  hold." 

"  Oh,  hush  !  Uv.  Dodd  !  I  must  not  hear  this." 

"Miss  Lucy,  I  can't  keep  it  any  longer:  you  must, 
you  shall  hear  me.  You  can  despise  my  love  if  j-ou 
will,  but  you  shall  know  it  before  you  reject  it." 

"Mr.  Dodd,  you  have  every  right  to  be  heard.  But 
let  me  persuade  you  not  to  insist :  oh !  Avhy  did  I  come 
back ! " 

"The  first  moment  I  saw  you,  Miss  Lucy,  it  was  a  new 
life  to  me.  I  never  looked  twice  at  any  girl  before.  It 
is  not  your  beauty  only  ;  oh,  no !  it  is  your  goodness, 
goodness  such  as  I  never  thought  was  to  l)e  found  on 
earth.  Don't  turn  your  head  from  me !  I  know  my 
defects  :  could  I  look  on  you,  and  not  see  them  ?  my 
manners  are  bhmt  and  rude,  oh !  how  different  from 
yours !  But  you  could  soon  make  me  a  fine  gentleman, 
I  love  you  so.  And  I  am  only  the  first  mate  of  an 
Indiaman ;  but  I  should  be  a  captain  next  voyage,  Miss 
Lucy,  and  a  sailor  like  me  he  has  no  exj>enses ;  all  he 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  353 

has  is  his  wife's ;  the  first  lady  in  the  land  will  not  be 
petted  as  you  will,  if  you  will  look  kindly  on  me.  Listen 
\o  me,  trying  to  tempt  her.  Ko,  Miss  Lucy,  I  have 
nothing  to  offer  you  worth  your  acceptance,  only  my 
love.  No  man  ever  loved  woman  as  I  love  you ;  it  is 
not  love,  it  is  worship,  it  is  adoration.  Ah !  she  is  going 
to  speak  to  me  at  last !  " 

Lucy  presented  at  this  moment  a  strange  contrast  of 
calmness  and  agitation.  Her  bosom  heaved  quickly, 
and  she  was  pale,  but  her  voice  was  calm,  and  though 
gentle,  decided. 

"  I  know  you  love  me,  Mr.  Dodd,  and  I  feared  this.  I 
have  tried  to  save  you  the  mortilication  of  being  declined 
by  one  who,  in  many  things,  is  your  inferior.  I  have 
even  been  rude  and  unkind  to  you.  Forgive  me  for  it. 
I  meant  it  kindly.  I  regret  it  now.  Mr.  Dodd,  I  thank 
you  for  the  honor  you  do  me ;  but  I  cannot  accept  your 
love."  There  was  a  pause ;  but  David's  tongue  seemed 
glued  to  the  roof  of  his  mouth.  He  was  not  surprised, 
yet  he  was  stupefied  when  the  blow  came. 

At  last  he  gasped  out,  "You  love  some  other 
man  ?  " 

Lucy  was  silent. 

"  Answer  me,  for  pity's  sake ;  give  me  something  to 
help  me." 

"  You  have  no  right  to  ask  me  such  a  question,  but  — 
I  have  no  attachment,  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  Ah !  then  one  word  more :  is  it  because  you  cannot 
love  me,  or  because  I  am  poor,  and  only  first  mate  of  an 
Indiaman  ?  " 

"That  I  will  not  answer;  you  have  no  right  to  ques- 
tion a  lady,  why  she  —  Stay  !  you  wish  to  despise  me. 
Well,  why  not  ?  if  that  will  cure  you  of  this  unfortunate 
—  think  what  you  please  of  me,  Mr.  Dodd,"  murmured 
Lucy,  sadly. 
23 


354  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

"  All !  you  know  I  can't ! "  cried  David,  despairingly. 

"  I  know  you  esteem  me  more  than  I  deserve :  well,  I 
esteem  you,  Mr.  Dodd.  Why,  then,  can  we.  not  be 
friends  ?  You  have  only  to  promise  me  you  will  never 
return  to  this  subject  —  come  ! " 

"  Me  promise  not  to  love  you !  what  is  the  use  ?  me 
be  your  friend,  and  nothing  more,  and  stand  looking  on 
at  the  heaven  that  is  to  be  another's  and  never  to  be 
mine  ?  It  is  my  turn  to  decline.  Never !  Betrothed 
lovers,  or  strangers,  but  nothing  between.  It  would 
drive  me  mad !  Away  from  you,  and  out  of  sight  of 
your  sweet  face,  I  may  make  shift  to  live,  and  go 
through  my  duty  somehow,  for  my  mother's  and  sister's 
sake." 

"  You  are  wiser  than  I  was,  Mr.  Dodd.  Yes,  we  must 
part." 

"Of  course  we  must.  I  have  got  my  answer,  and  a 
kinder  one  than  I  deserve ;  and  now  what  is  the  polite 
thing  for  me  to  do,  I  wonder  ?  "  David  said  this  with 
terrible  bitterness. 

"  You  frighten  me,"  sighed  Lucy. 

"  Don't  you  be  frightened,  sweet  angel ;  there,  I  have 
been  used  to  obey  orders  all  my  life,  and  I  am  like  a 
ship  tossed  in  the  breakers,  and  you  are  calm,  calm  as 
death.     Give  me  my  ordei'S,  for  God's  sake." 

"  It  is  not  for  me  to  command  you,  Mr.  Dodd.  I  have 
forfeited  that  right.  But  listen  to  her  who  still  asks  to 
be  your  friend,  and  she  will  tell  you  what  will  be  best 
for  you,  and  kindest  and  most  generous  to  her." 

"  Tell  me  about  that  last :  the  other  is  a  waste  of 
words." 

"  I  will,  then :  your  sister  is  somewhere  in  the  neigh- 
borhood." 

"  She  is  at .     How  did  you  know  ?  " 

"1  saw  her  on  your  arm.     I  am  glad  she  is  so  near; 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    ME   LONG.  355 

oh  !  so  glad !  Bid  my  uncle  and  aunt  good-by :  make 
some  excuse.  Go  to  your  sister  at  once.  She  loves  you. 
She  is  better  than  I  am,  if  you  will  but  see  us  as  we 
really  are.  Go  to  her  at  once,"  faltered  Lucy,  who  dis- 
liked Eve,  and  Eve  her. 

"  I  will !  I  will !  I  have  thought  too  little  of  my  own 
flesh  and  blood.     Shall  I  go  now  ?  " 

"Yes,"  murmured  Lucy,  softly,  trying  to  disarm  the 
fatal  word.  "  Forget  me  !  —  and  —  forgive  me  !  "  and, 
with  this  last  word  scarce  audible,  she  averted  her  face, 
and  held  out  her  hand  with  angelic  dignity,  modesty, 
and  pity. 

The  kind  words  and  the  gentle  action  brought  down 
the  stout  heart  that  had  looked  death  in  the  face  so 
often  without  flinching.  "  Forgive  you,  sweet  angel !  " 
he  cried ;  "  I  pray  God  to  bless  you,  and  to  make  you  as 
happy  as  I  am  desolate  for  your  sake.  Oh !  you  show 
me  more  and  more  what  I  lose  this  day.  God  bless  you  ! 
God  bless  "  —  And  David's  heart  filled  to  choking,  and 
he  burst  out  sobbing  despairingly,  and  the  hot  tears  ran 
suddenly  from  his  eyes  over  her  hand,  as  he  kissed  and 
kissed  it.  Then  with  an  almost  savage  feeling  of  shame 
(for  these  were  not  eyes  that  were  wont  to  weep),  he 
uttered  one  cry  of  despair  and  ran  away,  leaving  her 
pale  and  panting  heavily. 

She  looked  piteously  at  her  hand,  wet  with  a  hero's 
tears,  and,  for  the  second  time  to-day,  her  own  began  to 
gush.  She  felt  a  need  of  being  alone.  She  wanted  to 
think  on  what  she  had  done.  She  would  hide  in  the 
garden.  She  ran  down  the  steps ;  lo !  there  was  Mr. 
Hardie  coming  up  the  gravel  walk.  She  uttered  a  little 
cry  of  impatience,  and  dashed  impetuously  into  the  hot- 
house, driving  the  half-open  door  before  her  with  her 
person,  as  well  as  her  arm. 

A  scream  of  terror  and  pain  issued  from  behind  it. 


356  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

■with  a  crash  of  pottery.  Lucy  wheeled  round  at  the 
sound,  and  there  was  her  aunt,  flattened  against  tlie 
flower-frame.     Lucy  stood  transfixed. 

But  soon  her  look  of  surprise  gave  way  to  a  frown, 
ay  !  and  a  sombre  one. 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  357 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  ready-minded  lady  extricated  herself  from  the 
pots,  and  wriggled  out  of  the  moral  situation.  "  I  was 
a  listener,  dear,  an  unwilling  listener ;  but  now  I  do  not 
regret  it.  How  nobly  you  behaved ; "  and  with  this  she 
came  at  her  with  open  arms,  crying,  "My  own  dear 
niece." 

Her  own  dear  niece  recoiled  with  a  shiver,  and  put  up 
both  her  hands  as  a  shield. 

"  Oh,  don't  touch  me,  please.  I  never  heard  of  a  lady 
listening  ! "  She  then  turned  her  back  on  her  aunt  in  a 
somewhat  uncourtier-like  manner,  and  darted  out  of  the 
place,  every  fibre  of  her  frame  strung  up  tight  with 
excitement.  She  felt  she  was  not  the  calm  dispassionate 
being  of  yesterday,  and  hurried  to  her  own  room  and 
locked  herself  in. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  remained  behind  in  a  state  of  bitter 
mortification,  and  breathing  fury  on  her  small  scale. 
But  what  could  she  do  ?  David  would  be  out  of  her 
reach  in  a  few  minutes,  and  Lucy  was  scarce  vulner- 
able. 

In  the  absence  of  any  definite  spite,  she  thought  she 
could  not  go  wrong  in  thwarting  whatever  Lucy  wished, 
and  her  wish  had  been  that  David  should  go.  Besides, 
if  she  kept  him  in  the  house,  who  knows  ?  she  might 
pique  him  with  Lucy,  and  even  yet  turn  him  her 
way.  So  she  lay  in  wait  for  him  in  the  hall :  he  soon 
appeared  with  his  bag  in  his  hand.  She  inquired,  with 
great  simplicity,  where  he  was  going  ?  he  told  her  he 
was  going  away.     She  remonstrated,  first  tenderly,  then 


358  LOVE  ]\rE   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

almost  angrily.  "  We  all  counted  on  you  to  play  tlie 
violin.     We  can't  dance  to  the  piano  alone." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  but  I  have  got  my  orders." 

Then  this  subtle  lady  said  carelessly,  "Lucy  will  be 
au  desespoir.  She  will  get  no  dancing.  She  said  to  me 
just  noAv,  'Aunt,  do  try  and  persuade  Mr.  Dodd  to  stay 
over  the  ball.     We  shall  miss  him  so.' " 

"  When  did  she  say  that  ?  " 

"  Just  this  minute.     Standing  at  the  door  there." 

"Very  well,  then  I'll  stay  over  the  ball."  And  with- 
out a  word  more  he  carried  his  bag  and  violin-case  up  to 
his  room  again.  Oh !  how  La  Bazalgette  hated  him. 
She  now  resigned  all  hope  of  flirting  with  him,  and 
promised  herself  the  pleasure  of  watching  him  and  Lucy 
together.  One  would  be  wretched,  and  the  other  must 
be  uncomfortable. 

Lucy  did  not  come  down  to  dinner;  she  was  lying 
down  with  a  headache.  She  even  sent  a  message  to  Mrs. 
Bazelgette,  to  know  whether  she  could  be  dispensed 
with  at  the  ball.  Answer,  "  Impossible."  At  half-past 
eight  she  got  up,  put  on  her  costume,  took  it  off  again, 
and  dressed  in  white  watered  silk :  her  assumption  of  a 
character  was  confined  to  wearing  a  little  crown,  rising 
to  a  peak  in  front.  ISIany  of  the  guests  had  arrived 
when  she  glided  into  the  room,  looking  every  inch  a 
queen.  David  was  dazzled  at  her,  and  awe-struck  at  her 
beauty  and  mien,  and  at  his  own  presumption. 

Her  eye  fell  on  him.  She  gave  a  little  start,  but 
passed  on  without  a  word.  The  carpets  had  been  taken 
up,  and  the  dancing  began. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  arranged  that  Lucy  and  David  should 
play  piano-forte  and  violin  until  some  lady  could  be 
found  to  take  her  part. 

I  incline  to  think  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  spiteful  as  mortified 
vanity  is  apt  to  be,  did  not  know  the  de])th  of  anguish 
her  subtle  vengeance  inflicted  on  David  Dodd. 


LOVE    ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  359 

He  was  pale  and  stern  with  the  bitter  struggle  for 
composure.  He  ground  his  teeth,  fixed  his  eyes  on  the 
music-book,  and  ploughed  the  merry  tunes  as  the  faint- 
ing ox  ploughs  the  furrow.  He  dared  not  look  at  Lucy, 
nor  did  he  speak  to  her  more  than  was  necessary  for 
what  they  were  doing ;  nor  she  to  him.  She  was  vexed 
with  him  for  subjecting  himself  and  her  to  unnecessary 
pain,  and  in  the  eye  of  society,  her  divinity. 

Another  unhappy  one  was  Mr.  Fountain.  He  sat  dis- 
consolate on  a  seat  all  alone.  Mrs.  Bazalgette  fluttered 
about  like  a  butterfly,  and  sparkled  like  a  Chinese  fire- 
work. 

Two  young  ladies,  sisters,  went  to  the  piano,  to  give 
Miss  Fountain  an  opportunity  of  dancing.  She  danced 
quadrilles  with  four  or  five  gentlemen,  including  her 
special  admirers.  She  declined  to  waltz ;  "  I  have  a 
little  headache,  nothing  to  speak  of." 

She  then  sat  down  to  the  piano  again.  "  I  can  play 
alone,  Mr.  Dodd  ;  you  have  not  danced  at  all." 

"  I  am  not  in  the  humor." 

"Very  well." 

This  time  they  played  some  of  the  tunes  they  had 
rehearsed  together  that  happy  evening,  and  David's  lip 
quivered. 

Lucy  eyed  him  unobserved. 

"  Was  this  wise  ?  to  subject  yourself  to  this  ?  " 

^'  I  must  obey  orders,  whatever  it  costs  me,  '  ri  tum  ti 
tum  ti  tum  ti  turn.'  " 

"AYho  ordered  you  to  neglect  my  advice  ?  'ri  tum  tum 
tum.'  " 

"  You  did,  'ri  tum  ti  tum  tiddy  iddy.' " 

A  look  of  silent  disdain  ;  "  ri  tum,  ti  tum,  tiddy  iddy." 
(Ah,  perdona  for  relating  things  as  they  happen,  and  not 
as  your  grand  writers  pretend  they  happen.) 

Between  the  quadrilles,  she  asked  an  explanation. 


360  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Your  aunt  met  me  witli  my  bag  in  my  hand,  and  told 
me  you  wanted  me  to  play  to  the  company." 

When  he  said  this,  David  heard  a  sound  like  the  click 
of  a  trigger.  He  looked  up,  it  was  Lucy  clenching  her 
teeth  convulsively.  But  time  was  up :  the  woman  of  the 
world  must  go  on  like  the  prizefighter :  the  couples  were 
waiting. 

"  Ri  turn  ti  tum  ti  tum  ti  tum  tiddy  iddy."  For  all 
that  she  did  not  •  finish  the  tune.  In  the  middle  of  it, 
she  said  to  David  ;  '"  ri  tum  ti  tum,'  can  you  get  through 
this  without  me  ?  '  ri  tum.' " 

"  If  I  can  get  through  life  without  you,  I  can  surely 
get  through  this  twaddle  ;  '  ri  tum  ti  tum  ti  tum  ti  tum 
tiddy  iddy.' " 

Lucy  started  from  her  seat,  leaving  David  ploughing 
solo.  She  started  from  her  seat  and  stood  a  moment, 
looking  like  an  angel  stung  by  vipers.  Her  eye  went  all 
round  the  room  in  one  moment  in  search  of  some  one  to 
blast  on  a  small  scale.  It  surprised  Mr.  Hardie  and  Mrs. 
Bazalgette,  sitting  together,  and  casting  ironical  glances 
piano-wards  :  "  So  she  has  been  betraying  to  Mr.  Hardie 
the  secret  she  gained  by  listening,"  thought  Lucy.  The 
pair,  she  thought,  were  probably  enjoying  David's  morti- 
fication, his  misery. 

Lucy  Fountain  walked  very  slowly  down  the  room  to 
this  couple.  She  looked  them  long  and  full  in  the  face, 
with  that  confronting  yet  overlooking  glance,  which 
women  of  the  world  can  command  on  great  occasions. 
It  fell,  and  pressed  on  them  both  like  lead,  they  could 
not  have  told  you  why.  They  looked  at  one  another 
ruefully  when  she  had  passed  them,  and  then  their  eyes 
followed  her :  they  saw  her  walk  straight  up  to  her 
uncle,  and  sit  down  by  him  and  take  his  hand.  They 
exchanged  another  uneasy  look. 

"Uncle,"  said  Lucy,  speaking  very  quickly,  "you  are 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  301 

unhappy.  I  am  the  cause;  I  am  come  to  say  that  I 
promise  you  not  to  marry  any  one  my  aunt  shall  propose 
to  me." 

"  My  dear  girl,  then  you  won't  marry  that  shopkeeper 
there." 

"  What  need  of  names  ?  still  less  of  epithets.  I  will 
marry  no  friend  of  hers." 

"  Ah  !  now  you  are  my  brother's  daughter  again." 

"No!  I  love  you  no  better  than  I  did  this  morning; 
but  she  "  —  (full  stop). 

Celestial  happiness  diffused  itself  over  old  Fountain's 
face,  and  Lucy  glided  back  to  the  piano  just  as  the 
quadrille  ended.  "Give  me  your  arm,  Mr.  Dodd,"  said 
she  authoritatively.  She  took  his  arm,  and  made  the 
tour  of  the  room  leaning  on  him,  and  chatting  gayly. 

She  introduced  him  to  the  best  people,  and  contrived 
to  appear  to  the  whole  room  joyous  and  flattered,  leaning 
on  David's  arm. 

The  young  fellows  envied  him  so. 

Every  now  and  then  David  felt  her  noble  white  arm 
twitch  convulsively,  and  her  fingers  pinch  the  clotli  of 
his  sleeve,  where  it  was  loose. 

She  guided  him  to  the  supper-room.  It  was  empty. 
"  Oblige  me  with  a  glass  of  water." 

He  gave  it  her.     She  drank  it. 

"Mr.  Dodd,  the  advice  I  gave  you  with  my  own  lips  I 
never  retracted.  ]\[y  aunt  imposed  upon  you.  It  was 
done  to  mortify  you.  It  has  failed,  as  you  may  have 
observed.  My  head  aches  so :  it  is  intolerable.  When 
they  ask  you  where  I  am,  say  I  am  unwell,  and  have 
retired  to  my  room.  I  shall  not  be  at  breakfast. 
Directly  after  breakfast  go  to  your  sister,  and  tell  her 
your  friend  Lucy  declined  you,  though  she  knows  your 
value,  and  would  not  let  you  be  mortified  by  nullities 
and  heartless  fools.     Good-by,  Mr.  Dodd,  try  and  believe 


362  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

that  none  of  us  you  leave  in  this  house  are  worth  remem- 
bering, far  less  regretting." 

She  vanished  haughtily ;  David  crept  back  to  the  ball- 
room :  it  seemed  dark  by  comparison,  now  she  who  lent 
it  lustre  was  gone.  He  stayed  a  few  minutes,  then 
heavy-hearted  to  bed. 

The  next  morning  he  shook  hands  with  Mr.  Bazal- 
gette,  the  only  one  who  was  up;  kissed  the  terrible 
infant,  who,  suddenly  remembering  his  many  virtues, 
formally  forgave  him  his  one  piece  of  injustice ;  and  as 
he  came,  so  he  went  away,  his  bag  on  his  shoulder,  and 
his  violin-case  in  his  hand.  He  went  to  cousin  Mary, 
and  asked  for  Eve.  Cousin  Mary's  face  turned  red: 
"  You  will  find  her  at  ISTo.  80  in  this  street.  She  is  gone 
into  lodgings."  The  fact  is,  the  cousins  had  had  a  tiff; 
and  Eve  had  left  the  house  that  moment. 

Oh,  my  heroines !  when  will  you  learn  to  be  faultless  ! 

David  came  into  her  apartment ;  he  smiled  sweetly, 
but  sadly.  "  Well,  it  is  all  over.  I  have  offered,  and 
been  declined." 

At  seeing  him  so  quiet  and  resigned,  Eve  burst  out 
crying. 

''Don't  you  cry,  dear,"  said  David.  "It  is  best  so. 
It  is  almost  a  relief.  Anything  before  the  suspense  I 
was  enduring." 

Then  Eve,  recovering  her  spirits  by  the  help  of  anger, 
began  to  abuse  Lucy  for  a  cold-hearted,  deceitful  girl ; 
but  David  stopped  her  sternly. 

"  Not  a  word  against  her,  not  a  word.  I  should  hate 
any  one  that  miscalled  her.  She  speaks  well  of  you, 
Eve,  why  need  you  speak  ill  of  her  ?  She  and  I  parted 
friends,  and  friends  let  us  be.  There  is  no  hate  can  lie 
alongside  love  in  a  true  heart.  No  !  let  nobody  speak  of 
her  at  all  to  me.  I  shan't.  My  thoughts  they  are  my 
own.     '  Go  to  your  sister,'  said  she,  and  here  I  am ;  and 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  363 

I  beg  your  pardon,  Eve,  for  neglecting  yovi  as  I  have  of 
late." 

"Oh,  never  mind  tliat,  David,  our  affection  will  outlast 
this  folly  many  a  long  year." 

"Please  God  !  Your  hand  in  mine,  Eve,  my  lass,  and 
let  us  talk  of  ourselves  and  mother :  the  time  is  short." 

They  sat  hand  in  hand,  and  never  mentioned  Lucy's 
name  again ;  and,  strange  to  say,  it  was  David  who  con- 
soled Eve.  For,  now  the  battle  was  lost,  her  spirit 
seemed  to  have  all  deserted  her,  and  she  kept  bursting 
out  crying  every  noAV  and  then  irrelevantly. 

It  was  three  in  the  afternoon ;  David  was  sitting  by 
the  window,  and  Eve  packing  his  chest  in  the  same 
room,  not  to  be  out  of  his  sight  a  minute,  when  suddenly 
he  started  up,  and  cried,  "There  she  is,"  and  an  instinc- 
tive, unreasonable  joy  illumined  his  face;  the  next 
moment  his  countenance  fell. 

The  carriage  passed  down  the  street. 

"I  remember  now,"  muttered  David,  "I  heard  she  was 
to  go  sailing;  and  Mr.  Talboys  was  to  be  skipper  of  the 
boat.     Ah!  well." 

"  Well,  let  them  sail,  David.    It  is  not  your  business." 

"  That  it  is  not,  Eve  ;  nobody's  less  than  mine." 

"Eve,  there  is  plenty  of  wind  blowing  up  from  the 
nor'-east." 

"  Is  there  ?  I  am  afraid  that  will  bring  your  ship 
down  quick." 

"Yes;  but  it  is  not  that.  I  am  afraid  that  lubber 
won't  think  of  looking  to  windward." 

"  Nonsense  about  the  wind  !  it  is  a  beautiful  day. 
Come,  David,  it  is  no  use  fighting  against  nature ;  put  on 
your  hat,  then,  and  run  down  to  the  beach,  and  see  the 
last  of  her ;  only,  for  my  sake,  don't  let  the  others  see 
you  to  jeer  you." 


364  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  No,  no  ! " 

"  And  mind  and  be  back  to  dinner  at  four :  I  have  got 
a  nice  roast  fowl  for  you." 

"  Ay  !  ay  ! " 

A  little  before  four  o'clock,  a  sailor  brought  a  note 
from  David,  written  hastily  in  pencil.  It  was  sent  up  to 
Eve.     She  read  it,  and  clasped  her  hands  vehemently. 

"  Oh,  David,  David  !  She  was  born  to  be  your  destruc- 
tion !  " 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  365 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Mb.  Fountain,  Miss  Fountain,  and  Mr.  Talboys 
started  to  go  on  the  boating-expedition.  As  they  were 
getting  into  the  boat,  Mr.  Fountain  felt  a  little  ill,  and 
begged  to  be  excused.  Mr.  Talboys  offered  to  return 
with  him.  He  declined.  "  Have  your  little  sail :  I  will 
wait  at  the  inn  for  you." 

This  pantomime  had,  I  blush  to  say,  been  arranged 
beforehand.  Miss  Fountain,  we  may  be  sure,  saw  through 
it,  but  she  gave  no  sign.  A  lofty  impassibility  marked 
her  demeanor,  and  she  let  them  do  just  what  they  liked 
with  her. 

The  boat  was  launched,  the  foresail  set,  and  Fountain 
remained  on  shore,  in  anything  but  a  calm  and  happy 
state. 

But  friendships  like  these  are  not  free  from  dross  ; 
and  I  must  confess  that  among  the  feelings  which 
crossed  his  mind,  was  a  hope  that  Talboys  would  pop, 
and  be  refused,  as  he  had  been.  Why  should  he,  Foun- 
tain, monopolize  defeat  ?  We  should  share  all  things 
with  a  friend. 

Meantime,  by  one  of  those  caprices  to  which  her  sex 
are  said  to  be  peculiarly  subject,  Lucy  seemed  to  have 
given  up  all  intention  of  carrying  out  her  plan  for 
getting  rid  of  Mr.  Talboys.  Instead  of  leading  him  on 
to  his  fate,  she  interposed  a  subtle  but  almost  impassa- 
ble barrier  between  him  and  destruction  ;  her  manner 
and  deportment  were  of  a  nature  to  freeze  declarations 
of  love  upon  the  human  lip.  She  leaned  back  languidly 
and  imperially  on  the  luxurious  cushions,  and  listlessly 


366  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

eyed  the  sky  and  the  water,  and  ignored  with  perfect 
impartiality  all  the  living  creatures  in  the  boat. 

Mr.  Talboys  endeavored  in  vain  to  draw  her  out  of 
this  languid  mood.  He  selected  an  interesting  subject 
of  conversation  to  —  himself :  he  told  her  of  his  feats, 
yachting  in  the  Mediterranean ;  he  did  not  tell  her, 
though,  that  his  yacht  was  sailed  by  the  master,  and  not 
by  him,  her  proprietor.  In  reply  to  all  this  Lucy  dropped 
out  languid  monosyllables. 

At  last  Talboys  got  piqued,  and  clapped  on  sail. 

There  had  not  been  a  breath  of  air  until  half  an  hour 
before  they  started ;  but  now  a  stiff  breeze  had  sprung 
up.  So  they  had  smooth  water,  and  yet  plenty  of  wind, 
and  the  boat  cut  swiftly  through  the  bubbling  water. 

"  She  walks  well,"  said  the  yachtsman. 

Lucy  smiled  a  gracious,  though  still  rather  too  queenly, 
assent.  I  think  the  motion  was  pleasing  her.  Lively 
motion  is  very  agreeable  to  her  sex. 

"  This  is  a  very  fast  boat,"  said  Mr.  Talboys.  "  I 
should  like  to  try  her  speed.  What  do  you  say,  Miss 
Fountain  ?  " 

"  With  all  my  heart,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  tone  that  ex- 
pressed utter  indifference. 

"  Here  is  this  lateen-rigged  boat  creeping  down  on  our 
quarter :  we  will  stand  east  till  she  runs  down  to  us,  and 
then  we  will  run  by  her  and  challenge  her."  Accord- 
ingly Talboys  stood  east. 

But  he  did  not  get  his  race  ;  for,  somewhat  to  his 
surprise,  the  lateen-rigged  boat,  instead  of  holding  her 
course,  which  was  about  south-south-west,  bore  up  directly 
and  stood  east,  keeping  about  half  a  mile  to  windward 
of  Talboys. 

This  puzzled  Talboys.  "  They  are  afraid  to  try  it," 
said  he.  "  If  they  are  afraid  of  us  sailing  on  a  wind, 
they  would  not  have  much  chance  with  us  in  beating  to 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  367 

windward  :  a  lugger  can  lie  two  points  nearer  the  wind 
than  a  schooner." 

All  this  science  was  lost  on  Lucy.  She  lay  back  lan- 
guid and  listless. 

Mr.  Talboys'  crcAv  consisted  of  a  man  and  a  boy.  He 
steered  the  boat  himself.  He  ordered  them  to  go  about 
and  sail  due  west.  It  was  no  sooner  done  than,  lo  and 
behold !  the  schooner  came  about  and  sailed  west,  keep- 
ing always  half  a  mile  to  windward. 

"  That  boat  is  following  us,  Miss  Fountain." 

''  What  for  ?  "  inquired  she  ;  "  is  it  my  uncle  coming 
after  us  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  see  no  one  aboard  but  a  couple  of  fishermen." 

"  They  are  not  fishermen,"  put  in  the  boy,  "  they  are 
sailors  ;  coast-guard  men,  likely." 

"  Besides,"  said  Mr.  Talboys,  "  your  uncle  would  run 
down  to  us  at  once ;  but  these  keep  waiting  on  us  and 
dogging  us.     Confound  their  impudence  ! " 

"  It  is  all  fancy,"  said  Lucy ;  "  run  away  as  fast  as 
you  can  that  way  "  (and  she  pointed  down  wind),  "  and 
you  will  see  nobody  will  take  the  trouble  to  run  after 
us." 

"  Hoist  the  mainsail,"  cried  Talboys. 

They  had  hitherto  been  sailing  under  the  foresail 
only.  In  another  minute  they  were  running  furiously 
before  the  wind  with  both  sails  set.  The  boat  yawed, 
and  Lucy  began  to  be  nervous.  Fer  contra  the  increased 
rapidity  of  motion  excited  her  agreeably.  The  lateen- 
schooner,  sailing  under  her  foresail  only,  luffed  directly 
and  stood  on  in  the  lugger's  wake.  Lucy's  cheek  burned, 
but  she  said  nothing. 

"  There,"  cried  Talboys,  "  now  do  you  believe  me  ?  I 
think  we  gain  on  her,  though." 

"  We  are  going  three  knots  to  her  two,  sir,"  said  the 
old  man ;  "  but  it  is  by  her  good-will ;  that  is  the  fastest 


368  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

boat  in  the  town,  sailing  on  a  wind.  At  beating  to  wind- 
ward we  could  tackle  her  easy  enough,  but  not  at  run- 
ning free.  Ah  !  there  goes  her  mainsail  up.  I  thought 
she  would  not  be  long  before  she  gave  us  that." 

"  Oh,  how  beautiful !  "  cried  Lucy  ;  "  it  is  like  a  falcon 
or  an  eagle  sailing  down  upon  us :  it  seems  all  wings. 
Why  don't  we  spread  wings  too  and  fly  away  ?  " 

''You  see,  miss,"  explained  the  boatman,  "that 
schooner  works  her  sails  different  from  us,  going  down 
wind;  she  can  carry  her  mainsel  on  one  side  of  the 
craft  and  her  foresel  on  the  other.  By  that  she  keeps 
on  an  even  keel,  and  what  is  more,  her  mainsel  does  not 
take  the  wind  out  of  her  foresel.  Bless  you !  that  little 
schooner  would  run  past  the  fastest  frigate  in  the  king's 
service  with  the  wind  dead  aft  as  we  have  got  it  now : 
she  is  coming  up  with  us  hand-over-head,  and  as  stiff  on 
her  keel  as  a  rock.  This  is  her  point  of  sailing ;  beating 
to  windward  is  ourn.  Why,  if  they  ain't  reefing  the 
foresel  to  make  the  race  even ;  and  there  go  three  reefs 
into  her  mainsel  too."  The  old  boatman  scratched  his 
head. 

''  Who  is  aboard  her,  Dick  ?  they  are  strangers  to  me." 

By  taking  in  so  many  reefs  the  lateen  had  lowered  her 
rate  of  sailing,  and  she  now  followed  in  their  "vvake, 
keeping  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  windward. 

Talboys  lost  all  patience.  "  Who  is  it,  I  wonder,  that 
has  the  insolence  to  dog  us  so  ?  "  and  he  looked  keenly 
at  Miss  Fountain. 

She  did  not  think  herself  bound  to  repl}',  and  gazed 
with  a  superior  air  of  indifference  on  the  sky  and  the 
water. 

"  I  will  soon  know,"  said  Talboys. 

"  What  does  it  matter  ?  "  inquired  Lucy.  "  Probably 
somebody  who  is  wasting  his  time,  as  we  are." 

"  The  road  we  are  on  is  as  free  to  him  as  to  us,"  sug- 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  369 

gested  the  old  boatman,  with  a  fine  sense  of  natural 
justice.  He  added,  "  But  if  you  will  take  my  advice, 
sir,  you  will  shorten  sail,  and  put  her  about  for  home. 
It  is  blowing  half  a  gale  of  wind,  and  the  sea  will  be 
getting  up,  and  that  won't  be  agreeable  for  the  young 
lady." 

"  Gale  of  wind  ?  nonsense,"  said  Talboys ;  "  it  is  a 
fine  breeze." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Lucy  to  the  old  man  ;  "  I 
love  the  sea,  but  I  should  not  like  to  be  out  in  a  storm." 

The  old  boatman  grinned.  "  '  Storm  '  is  a  word  that 
an  old  salt  reserves  for  one  of  those  hurricanes  that 
blow  turnips  flat,  and  teeth  down  your  throat ;  you  can 
turn  round  and  lean  your  back  against  it  like  a  post ; 
and  a  carrion-crow  can't  make  for  the  next  parish, 
but  he  gets  fanned  into  another  county,  —  that  is  a 
storm." 

The  old  boatman  went  forward  grinning,  and  he  and 
his  boy  lowered  the  mainsail.  Then  Talboys  at  the  helm 
brought  the  boat's  head  round  to  the  wind.  She  came 
down  to  her  bearings  directly,  which  is  as  much  as  to 
say,  that  to  Lucy  she  seemed  to  be  upsetting.  Lucy 
gave  a  little  scream.  The  sail,  too,  made  a  rej^ort  like 
the  crack  of  a  pistol. 

"  Oh  !  what  is  that  ?  "  cried  Lucy. 

"  Wind,  mum,"  replied  the  boatman,  composedly. 

"  What  is  that  purple  line  on  the  water,  sir,  out  there, 
a  long  way  beyond  the  other  boat  ?  " 

"  Wind,  mum." 

"  It  seems  to  move ;  it  is  coming  this  way." 

"Ay,  mum  ;  that  is  a  thing  that  always  makes  to  lee- 
ward," said  the  old  fellow,  grinning.  "  I'll  take  in  a 
couple  of  reefs  before  it  comes  to  us." 

Meantime,  the  moment  the  lugger  lowered  her  main- 
sail, the  schooner,  divining,  as  it  appeared,  her  intention, 
24 


370  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

did  the  same,  and  luffed  immediately,  and  was  on  the 
new  tack  first  of  the  two. 

"Ay,  my  lass,"  said  the  old  boatman,  "you  are  smartly 
handled,  no  doubt,  but  your  square  stern  and  your  try- 
han-glar  sail  they  will  take  you  to  leeward  of  us  pretty 
soon,  do  what  you  can." 

The  event  seemed  to  justify  this  assertion ;  the  little 
lugger  was  on  her  best  point  of  sailing,  and  in  about  ten 
minutes  the  distance  between  the  two  boats  was  slightly 
but  sensibly  diminished.  The  lateen,  no  doubt,  observed 
this,  for  she  began  to  play  the  game  of  short  tacks,  and 
hoisted  her  mainsail,  and  carried  on  till  she  seemed  to 
sail  on  her  beam-ends,  to  make  up,  as  far  as  possible,  by 
speed  and  smartness,  for  what  she  lost  by  rig  in  beating 
to  windward. 

"  They  go  about  quicker  than  we  do,"  said  Talboys. 

"  Of  course  the}^  do,  they  have  not  got  to  dip  their 
sail,  as  we  have,  every  time  we  tack." 

This  was  the  true  solution,  but  Mr.  Talboys  did  not 
accept  it. 

"  We  are  not  so  smart  as  we  ought  to  be :  now  you  go 
to  the  helm,  and  I  and  the  boy  will  dip  the  lug." 

The  old  boatman  took  the  helm  as  requested,  and  gave 
the  word  of  command  to  Mr.  Talboys.  "  Stand  by  the 
fore-tack." 

"  Yes,"  said  Talboys,  "  here  I  am." 

"Let  yo  the  fore-tack;"  and  contemporaneously  with 
the  order,  he  brought  the  boat's  head  round. 

Now  this  operation  is  always  a  nice  one,  particularly 
in  these  small  luggers,  where  the  lug  has  to  be  dipped, 
that  is  to  say,  lowered  and  raised  again  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  mast.  For  the  lug  should  not  be  lowered  a 
moment  too'  soon,  or  the  boat,  losing  her  way,  would  not 
come  round  ;  nor  a  moment  too  late,  lest  the  sail,  owing 
to  the  new  position  the  boat  is  taking  under  the  influence 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE  ME   LONG.  371 

of  the  rudder,  should  receive  the  wind  whilst  between 
the  wind  and  the  mast,  and  so  the  craft  be  taken  aback : 
nothing  can  well  happen  more  disastrous. 

Mr.  Talboys,  though  not  the  accomplished  sailor  he 
thought  himself,  knew  this  as  well  as  anybody,  and  with 
the  boy's  help  he  lowered  the  sail  at  the  right  moment ; 
but,  getting  his  head  awkwardly  in  the  way,  the  yard  in 
coming  down  hit  him  on  the  nose,  and  nearly  knocked 
him  onto  his  beam-ends.  It  woiild  have  been  better  if  it 
had  done  so  quite,  instead  of  bounding  off  his  nose  on 
to  his  shoulder  and  there  resting,  —  for,  as  it  was,  the 
descent  of  the  sail  being  thus  arrested  half  way,  at  the 
critical  moment,  and  the  boat's  head  coming  round  all 
the  same,  a  gust  of  wind  caught  the  sail  and  wrapped  it 
tight  round  the  mast  to  windward.  The  boy  uttered  a 
cry  of  terror  so  significant  that  Lucy  trembled  all  over, 
and  by  an  uncontrollable  impulse  leaned  despairingly 
back  and  waved  her  white  handkerchief  towards  the 
antagonist  boat.  The  old  boatman,  with  an  oath,  darted 
forward  with  an  agility  he  could  not  have  shown  ashore. 

The  effect  on  the  craft  was  alarming.  If  the  whole 
sail  had  been  thus  taken  aback,  she  would  have  gone 
down  like  lead ;  for,  as  it  was,  she  was  at  once  driven  on 
her  side,  and  at  the  same  time  driven  back  by  the  stern. 
The  whole  sea  seemed  to  rise  an  inch  above  her  gunwale ; 
the  water  poured  into  her  at  every  drive  the  gusts  of 
wind  gave  her,  and  the  only  wonder  seemed  why  the 
waves  did  not  run  clean  over  her. 

In  vain  tlie  old  boatman,  cursing  and  swearing,  tugged 
at  the  canvas  to  free  it  from  the  mast.  It  was  wrapped 
round  it  like  Deianira's  shirt,  and  with  as  fatal  an  effect; 
the  boat  was  filling,  and  as  this  brought  her  lower  in  the 
water,  and  robbed  her  of  much  of  her  buoyancy,  and  as 
the  fatal  cause  continued  immovable,  her  destruction  was 
certain. 


372  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

Every  cheek  was  blanched  with  fear  but  Lucy's,  and 
hers  were  red  as  fire  ever  since  she  waved  her  handker- 
chief; so  powerful  is  modesty,  with  her  sex,  —  a  true 
virgin  can  blush  in  death's  very  grasp. 

In  the  midst  of  this  agitation  and  terror  suddenly  the 
boat  was  hailed :  they  all  looked  up,  and  there  was  the 
lateen  coming  tearing  down  on  them  under  all  her  can- 
vas, both  her  broad  sails  spread  out  to  the  full,  one  on 
each  side  :  she  seemed  all  monstrous  wing.  The  lugger 
being  now  nearly  head  to  wind,  she  came  flying  down  on 
her  weather-bow  as  if  to  run  past  her,  then,  lowering  her 
foresail,  made  a  broad  sweep  and  brought  up  suddenly 
between  the  lugger  and  the  wind.  As  her  foresail  fell, 
a  sailor  bounded  over  it  on  to  the  forecastle,  and  stood 
there  with  one  foot  on  the  gunwale,  active  as  Mercury, 
eye  glowing,  and  a  rope  in  his  hand. 

"  Stand  by  to  lower  your  mast,"  roared  this  sailor,  in 
a  voice  of  thunder  to  the  boatman  of  the  lugger ;  and 
the  moment  the  schooner  came  up  into  the  wind  athwart 
the  lugger's  bows,  he  bounded  over  ten  feet  of  water 
into  her,  and  with  a  turn  of  the  hand  made  the  rope  fast 
to  her  thwart,  then  hauling  upon  it,  brought  the  lugger 
alongside  with  her  head  literally  under  the  schooner's  wing. 

He  and  the  old  boatman  then  instantly  unstepped  the 
mast,  and  laid  it  down  in  the  boat,  sail  and  all.  It  was 
not  his  great  strength  that  enabled  him  to  do  this  (a  dozen 
of  him  could  not  have  done  this  while  the  wind  pressed 
on  the  mast) ;  it  was  his  address  in  taking  all  the  wind 
out  of  the  lug  by  means  of  the  schooner's  mainsail.  The 
old  man  never  said  a  word  till  the  work  was  done,  then 
he  remarked,  "  That  was  clever  of  you." 

The  new-comer  took  no  notice  whatever.  "  Reef  that 
sail.  Jack,"  he  cried,  "it  will  be  in  the  lady's  face  by- 
and-by ;  and  heave  your  baler  in  here,  their  boat  is  full 
of  water." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME    LONG.  373 

"Not  so  full  as  it  would  if  you  hadn't  brought  up 
alongside,"  said  the  old  boatman. 

"  Do  you  want  to  frighten  the  lady  ? "  replied  the 
sailor,  in  his  dryest  and  least  courtier-like  way. 

"  I  am  not  frightened,  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  Lucy :  "  I  was, 
but  I  am  not  now." 

"  Come  and  help  me  get  the  water  out  of  her,  Jack. 
Stay,  Miss  Fountain  had  better  step  into  the  dry  boat 
meantime.  Now,  Jack,  look  alive;  lash  her  alongside, 
aft." 

This  done,  the  two  sailors,  one  standing  on  the  lugger's 
gunwale,  one  on  the  schooner's,  handed  Miss  Fountain 
into  the  schooner,  and  gave  her  the  cushions  out  of  the 
lugger  to  sit  upon.  They  then  went  to  work  with  a 
will,  and  baled  half  a  ton  of  water  out. 

When  she  was  dry,  David  jumped  back  into  his  own 
boat.  "Now,  Miss  Fountain,  your  boat  is  dry,  but  the 
sea  is  getting  up,  and  I  think  if  I  were  you  I  would  stay 
where  you  are." 

"I  mean  to,"  said  the  lady,  calmly.  "Mr.  Talboys, 
would  you  mind  coming  into  this  boat  ?  we  shall  be 
safer  here,  it  —  it  is  larger." 

The  gentleman  thus  addressed  was  embarrassed  between 
two  mortifications,  one  on  each  side  of  him.  If  he  came 
into  David's  boat  he  would  be  second  fiddle,  he  who  had 
gone  out  of  port  first  fiddle.  If  he  stuck  to  the  lugger, 
Lucy  would  go  off  with  Dodd,  and  he  would  look  like  a 
fool  coming  ashore  without  her.     He  hesitated. 

David  got  impatient.  "Come,  sir,"  he  cried,  "don't 
you  hear  the  lady  invite  you  ?  and  every  moment  is 
precious."     And  he  held  out  his  hand  to  him. 

Talboys  decided  on  taking  it,  and  he  even  unbent  so 
far  as  to  jump  vigorously,  so  vigorously  that,  David  pull- 
ing him  with  force  at  the  same  moment,  he  came  flying 
into  the  schooner  like  a  cannon-ball,  and,  tojjpling  over 


374  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   INIE   LONG. 

on  his  heels,  went  down  on  his  seat  with  his  head  resting 
on  her  weather-gunwale,  and  his  legs  at  a  right  angle 
with  his  back, 

"That  is  one  way  of  boarding  a  craft,"  muttered 
David,  a  little  discontentedly ;  then  to  the  old  boatman, 
"  here,  fling  us  that  tarpauling.  I  say,  here  is  more  wind 
coming;  are  you  sure  you  can  work  that  lugger,  you 
two  ?  " 

"  We  will  be  ashore  before  you  can,  now  there's  nobody 
to  bother  us,"  was  the  prompt  reply. 

"  Then  cast  loose  :  here  we  are  —  drifting  out  to  sea." 

The  old  man  cast  the  rope  loose ;  David  hauled  it  on 
board,  and  the  schooner  shot  away  from  her  companion 
and  bore  up  north-north-west,  leaving  the  lugger  rocking 
from  side  to  side  on  the  rising  waves.  But  the  next 
minute  Lucy  saw  her  sail  rise,  and  she  bore  up  and 
stood  north-east. 

"  Good-by  to  you,  little  horror,"  said  Lucy. 

"  We  shall  fall  in  with  her  a  good  many  times  more 
before  we  make  the  land,"  said  David  Dodd. 

Lucy  inquired  what  he  meant ;  but  he  had  fallen  to 
hauling  the  sheet  aft  and  making  the  sail  stand  flatter, 
and  did  not  answer  her.  Indeed,  he  seemed  much  more 
taken  up  with  Jack  than  with  her,  and,  above  all,  entirely 
absorbed  in  the  business  of  sailing  the  boat. 

She  was  a  little  mortified  at  this  behavior,  and  held 
her  tongue.  Talboys  was  sulky  and  held  his.  It  was  a 
curious  situation.  In  the  hurry  and  bustle  none  of  the 
parties  had  realized  it :  but  now,  as  the  boat  breasted 
the  waves,  and  all  was  silent  on  board,  they  had  time  to 
review  their  position. 

Talboys  grew  gloomier  and  gloomier  at  the  poor  figure 
he  cut.  Lucy  kept  blushing  at  intervals  as  she  reflected 
on  the  obligation  she  had  laid  herself  imder  to  a  rejected 
lover.      The  rejected  lover  alone  seemed  to  mind  his 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  375 

business  and  nothing  else  ;  and,  as  he  was  almost  ludi- 
crously unconscious  that  he  was  doing  a  chivalrous 
action,  a  misfortune  to  which  those  who  do  these 
things  are  nearly  universally  liable,  he  did  not  gild 
the  transaction  with  a  single  graceful  speech,  and  per- 
mitted himself  to  be  more  occupied  with  the  sails  than 
with  rescued  beauty. 

Succeeding  events,  however,  explained,  and  in  some 
degree  excused,  this  commonplace  behavior. 

The  next  time  they  tacked,  some  spray  came  flying  in, 
and  wetted  all  hands.  Lucy  laughed.  The  lugger  had 
also  tacked,  and  the  two  boats  were  now  standing  towards 
each  other ;  when  they  met,  the  lugger  had  weathered  on 
them  some  sixty  or  seventy  yards. 

A  furious  rain  now  came  on  almost  horizontally,  and 
the  sailors  arranged  the  tarpaulin  so  as  to  protect  Mr. 
Talboys  and  Miss  Fountain. 

"But  you  will  be  wet  through  yourself,  Mr.  Dodd. 
Will  you  not  come  under  shelter,  too  ?  " 

"  And  who  is  to  sail  the  boat  ?  "  He  added,  "  I  am 
glad  to  see  the  rain.  I  hope  it  will  still  the  wind ;  if  it 
doesn't  —  we  shall  have  to  try  something  else,  that  is 
all." 

"  Pray  when  do  you  undertake  to  land  us,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 
inquired  Mr.  Talboys,  superciliously. 

"  Well,  sir,  if  it  does  not  blow  any  harder,  about  eight 
bells." 

"  Eight  bells  ?  why,  that  means  midnight,"  exclaimed 
Talboys. 

"  Wind  and  tide  both  dead  against  us,"  replied  David, 
coolly. 

"  Oh !  Mr.  Dodd,  tell  me  the  truth :  is  there  any 
danger  ?  " 

"Danger?  not  that  I  see ;  but  it  is  very  uncomfortable 
and  unbecoming   for  you   to   be   beating   to  windward 


376  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

against  the  tide  for  so  many  hours  when  you  ought  to 
be  sitting  on  the  sofa  at  home.  However,  next  time 
you  run  out  of  port,  I  hope  those  that  take  charge  of 
you  will  look  to  the  almanac  for  the  tide,  and  look  to 
windward  for  the  weather.  Jack,  the  lugger  lies  nearer 
the  wind  than  we  do." 

"  A  little,  sir." 

"  Will  you  take  the  helm  a  minute,  Mr.  Talboys  ?  and. 
Jack,  you  come  forward  and  unbend  this."  The  two 
sailors  put  their  heads  together  amid-ships,  and  spoke 
in  an  undertone.  "The  wind  is  rising  with  the  rain 
instead  of  falling  ?  " 

"  Seems  so,  sir." 

"  What  do  you  think  yourself  ?  " 

"Well,  sir,  it  has  been  blowing  harder  and  harder 
ever  since  we  came  out,  and  very  steady." 

"  It  will  turn  out  one  of  those  dry  nor'-easters.  Jack." 

"I  shouldn't  wonder,  sir.  I  wish  she  was  cutter- 
rigged,  sir.  A  boat  has  no  business  to  be  any  other  rig 
but  cutter ;  there  ought  to  be  a  nact  o'  Parliam't  against 
these  outlandish  rigs." 

"  I  don't  know :  I  have  seen  wonders  done  with  this 
lateen-rig  in  the  Pacific." 

"  The  lugger  forereaches  on  us,  sir." 

"  A  little ;  but  for  all  that  I  am  glad  she  is  on  board 
our  craft:  we  have  got  more  beam,  and  if  it  comes  to 
the  worst,  we  can  run.  The  lugger  can't  with  her  sharp 
stern.     I'll  go  to  the  helm." 

Just  as  David  was  stepping  aft  to  take  the  helm,  a 
wave  struck  the  boat  hard  on  the  weather  bow,  close  to 
the  gunwale,  and  sent  a  bucket  of  salt  water  flying  all 
over  him  :  he  never  turned  his  head  even  —  took  no  more 
notice  of  it  than  a  rock  does  when  the  sea  spits  at  it. 
Lucy  shrieked  and  crouched  behind  the  tarpaulin.  David 
took  the  helm,  and  seeing  Talboys  white,  said,  kindly, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  377 

"Why  don't  you  go  forward,  sir,  and  make  yourself  snug 
under  the  folksel  deck  :  she  is  sure  to  wet  us  abaft  before 
we  can  make  the  land." 

No ;  Talboys  resisted  his  inclination  and  the  deadly 
nausea  that  was  creeping  over  him. 

"Thank  you,  but  I  like  to  see  what  is  going  on,  and 
(with  an  heroic  attempt  at  sea-slang),  I  like  a  wet  boat." 

They  now  fell  in  with  the  lugger  again,  lying  on  the 
opposite  tack ;  and  a  hundred  yards  at  least  to  windward. 

Just  before  they  crossed  her  wake,  David  sang  out  to 
Jack,  — 

"  Our  masts ;  are  they  sound  ?  " 

"  Bran-new,  sir ;  best  Norway  pine." 

"What  d'ye  think?" 

"Think  we  are  wasting  time  and  daylight." 

"Then  stand  hy  the  main-sheet." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Slack  the  main-sheet." 

"  Ay,  ay  !  sir," 

The  boat  instantly  fell  off  into  the  wind,  and  as  she 
went  round,  David  stood  up  in  the  stern  sheets  and 
waved  his  cap  to  the  men  on  board  the  lugger,  who  were 
watching  him.  The  old  man  was  seen  to  shake  his  head 
in  answer  to  the  signal,  and  point  to  his  lug-sail  standing 
flat  as  a  board ;  and  the  next  moment  they  parted  company, 
and  the  lateen  was  running  close-reefed  before  the  wind. 

Mr.  Talboys  was  sitting  collapsed  in  the  lethargy  that 
precedes  sea-sickness.  He  started  up.  "What  are  you 
doing  ?  "  he  shrieked. 

"Keep  quiet,  sir,  and  don't  bother,"  said  David,  with 
calm  sternness,  and  in  his  deepest  tones. 

"  Pray  don't  interfere  with  Mr.  Dodd,"  said  Lucy,  "  he 
must  know  best." 

"  You  don't  see  what  he  is  doing,  then !  "  cried  Talboys, 
wildly ;  "  the  madman  is  taking  us  out  to  sea." 


378  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Are  you  taking  us  out  to  sea,  Mr,  Dodd  ?  '^  inquired 
Lucy,  with  dismay. 

"I  am  doing  according  to  my  judgment  of  tide  and 
wind,  and  the  abilities  of  the  craft  I  am  sailing,"  said 
David,  firmly ;  "  and  on  board  ray  own  craft  I  am  skip- 
per, and  skipper  I  will  be.  Go  forward,  sir,  if  you 
please,  and  don't  speak  except  to  obey  orders." 

Mr.  Talboys,  sick,  despondent,  and  sulky,  went  gloomily 
forward,  coiled  himself  up  under  the  forecastle  deck,  and 
was  silent  and  motionless. 

"Don't  send  me,"  cried  Lucy,  "for  I  will  not  go. 
Nothing  but  your  eye  keeps  up  my  courage.  I  don't 
mind  the  water,"  added  she,  hastily  and  a  little  timidly, 
anxious  to  meet  every  reason  that  could  be  urged  for 
imprisoning  her  in  the  forecastle  hold. 

"You  are  all  right  where  you  are,  miss,"  said  Jack, 
cheerfully  ;  "we  shan't  have  no  more  spray  come  aboard 
us ;  it  won't  come  in  by  the  can-full  if  it  doesn't  come 
by  the  ton." 

"Will  you  belay  your  jaw?"  roared  David,  in  a  fury 
that  Lucy  did  not  comprehend  at  the  time.  "  What  a 
set  of  tarnation  babblers  in  one  little  boat." 

"  I  won't  speak  any  more,  Mr.  Dodd.     I  won't  speak," 

"Bless  your  heart !  it  isn't  you  I  meant.  'Twould  be 
hard  if  a  lady  might  not  put  her  word  in.  But  a  man 
is  different.  I  do  love  to  see  a  man  belay  his  jaw,  and 
wait  for  orders,  and  then  do  his  duty:  stand  by  the 
mainsel,  you ! " 

"  Ay,  ay !  sir." 

"  Shake  out  a  couple  of  reefs.'* 

"  Ay,  ay  !  sir." 

And  the  lateen  spread  both  her  great  wings  like  an 
albatross,  and  leaped,  and  plunged,  and  flew,  before  the 
mighty  gale. 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LOKG.  379 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

"  This  is  nice.  The  boat  does  not  upset  or  tumble  as 
it  did  :  it  only  courtesies  and  plunges.     I  like  it." 

"  The  sea  has  not  got  up  yet,  miss,"  said  Jack. 

"  Hasn't  it  ?  the  waves  seem  very  large." 

"  Lord  love  you !  Wait  till  we  have  had  foiir  or  five 
hours  more  of  this." 

"Belay  your  jaw,  Jack." 

"Ay,  ay!  sir." 

"Why  so,  Mr.  Dodd?"  objected  Lucy,  gently.  "I 
am  not  so  weak  as  you  think  me.  Do  not  keep  the 
truth  from  me.  I  share  the  danger:  let  me  share  the 
sense  of  danger,  too.     You  shall  not  blush  for  me." 

"  Danger  ?  there  is  not  a  grain  of  it,  unless  we  make 
danger  by  inattention  —  and  babbling." 

"  You  will  not  do  that,"  said  Lucy. 

Equivoque  missed  fire. 

"Not  while  you  are  on  board,"  replied  David,  simply. 

Lucy  felt  inclined  to  give  him  her  hand :  she  had  it 
out  half  way;  but  he  had  lately  asked  her  to  marry 
him,  so  she  drew  it  back,  and  her  eyes  rested  on  the 
bottom  of  the  boat. 

The  wind  rose  higher.  The  masts  bent  so  that  each 
sail  had  every  possible  reef  taken  in.  Her  canvas  thus 
reduced,  she  scudded  as  fast  as  before,  such  was  now  the 
fury  of  the  gale.  The  sea  rose  so  that  the  boat  seemed 
to  mount  with  each  wave  as  high  as  the  second  story  of 
a  house,  and  go  down  again  to  the  cellar  at  every  plunge. 
Talboys,  prostrated  by  sea-sickness  in  the  fore-hold,  lay 
curled,  but  motionless,  like  a  crooked  log,  and  almost 


380  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

as  indifferent  to  life  or  death.  Lucy,  pale  but  firm,  put 
no  more  questions  that  she  felt  would  not  be  answered; 
but  scanned  David  Dodd's  face  furtively  but  closely. 
The  result  was  encouraging  to  her.  His  cheek  was  not 
pale,  as  she  felt  her  own  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  slightly 
flushed,  his  eye  bright  and  watchful  but  lion-like.  He 
gave  a  word  or  two  of  command  to  Jack  every  now  and 
then,  very  sharply,  but  without  the  slightest  shade  of 
agitation,  and  Jack's  "  ay,  ay,"  came  back  as  sharply,  but 
cheerfully. 

The  principal  feature  she  discerned  in  both  sailors  was 
a  very  attentive,  business-like  manner.  The  romantic 
air  with  which  heroes  face  danger  in  story,  was  entirely 
absent ;  and  so,  being  convinced  by  his  yarns  that  David 
was  a  hero,  she  inferred  that  their  situation  could  not  be 
dangerous,  but,  as  David  himself  had  inferred,  merely 
one  in  which  watchfulness  was  requisite. 

The  sun  went  down  red  and  angry.  The  night  came 
on  dark  and  howling.  No  moon.  A  murky  sky  like  a 
black  bellying  curtain  above;  and  huge  ebony  waves, 
that  in  the  appalling  blackness  seemed  all  crested  with 
devouring  fire,  hemmed  in  the  tossing  boat,  and  growled 
and  snarled  and  raged  above,  below,  and  around  her. 

Then,  in  that  awful  hour,  Lucy  Fountain  felt  her 
littleness,  and  the  littleness  of  man.  She  cowered  and 
trembled. 

The  sailors,  rough  but  tender  nurses,  wrapped  shawls 
round  her  one  above  the  other,  "  to  make  her  snug  for 
the  night,"  they  said.  They  seemed  to  her  to  be  mock- 
ing her.  "  Snug  ?  Who  could  hope  to  outlive  such  a 
fearfid  night  ?  and  what  did  it  matter  whether  she  was 
drowned  in  one  shawl  or  a  dozen  ?  " 

David  being  amidships,  baling  the  boat  out,  and  Jack 
at  the  helm,  she  took  the  opportunity,  and  got  very  close 
to  the  latter,  and  said  in  his  ear,  — 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  381 

"Mr.  Jack,  we  are  in  clanger." 

"Not  exactly  in  danger,  miss;  but  of  course  we  must 
mind  our  eye.  But  I  have  often  been  where  I  have  had 
to  mind  my  eye,  and  hope  to  be  again." 

"  Mr.  Jack,"  said  Lucy,  shivering,  "  what  is  our 
danger  ?  tell  me  the  nature  of  it,  then  I  shall  not  be  so 
cowardly ;  will  the  boat  break  ?  " 

"  Lord  bless  you,  no." 

"Will  it  upset?" 

"No  fear  of  that." 

"  Will  not  the  sea  swallow  us  ?  " 

"No,  miss.  How  can  the  sea  swallow  us  ?  She  rides 
like  a  cork,  and  there  is  the  skipper  baling  her  out  to 
make  her  lighter  still.  No,  I'll  tell  you,  miss ;  all  we 
have  got  to  mind  is  two  things :  we  must  not  let  her 
broach-to,  and  we  must  not  get  pooped." 

"  But  why  mustn't  we  ?  " 

"Wh7/?    Because  we  mustn't." 

"But  I  mean,  what  would  be  the  consequence  of  — 
broaching-to  ?  " 

Jack  opened  his  eyes  in  astonishment.  "  Why,  the  sea 
would  run  over  her  quarter,  and  swamp  her." 

"  Oh  !     And  if  we  get  pooped  ?  " 

"  We  shall  go  to  Davy  Jones,  like  a  bullet." 

"  Who  is  Davy  Jones  ?  " 

"The  old  one,  you  know  —  down  below.  Leastways 
you  won't  go  there,  miss,  you  will  go  aloft,  and,  perhaps, 
the  skipper ;  but  Davy  will  have  me,  so  I  won't  give  him 
a  chance  if  I  can  help  it." 

Lucy  cried. 

"  Where  are  we,  Mr.  Jack  ?  " 

"British  Channel." 

"  I  know  that ;  but  whereabouts  ?  " 

"  Heaven  knows,  and  no  doubt  the  skipper  he  knows, 
but  I  don't.  I  am  only  a  common  sailor.  Shall  I  hail 
the  skipper  ?  he  will  tell  you." 


382  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 

"  No  !  no  !  no  !     He  is  so  angry  if  we  speak." 

"  He  won't  be  angry  if  you  speak  to  him,  miss,"  said 
Jack,  with  a  sly  grin  that  brought  a  faint  color  into 
Lucy's  cheek.  "You  should  have  seen  him,  how  anxious 
he  was  about  you  before  we  came  alongside ;  and  the 
moment  that  lubber  went  forward  to  dip  the  lug,  says 
he,  'Jack,  there  will  be  mischief;  up  mainsel,  and  run 
down  to  them.  I  have  no  confidence  in  that  tall  boy.' 
(He  do  seem  a  long,  weedy,  useless  sort  of  lubber.)  Lord 
bless  you,  miss,  we  luffed,  and  were  running  down  to  you 
long  before  you  made  the  signal  of  distress  with  your 
little  white  flag."  Lucy's  cheeks  got  redder.  "No,  miss, 
if  the  skipper  speaks  severe  to  yovi.  Jack  Painter  is  blind 
with  one  eye,  and  can't  see  with  t'other." 

Lucy's  cheeks  were  carnation.  But  the  next  moment 
they  were  white,  for  a  terrible  event  interrupted  this 
chat ;  two  huge  waves  rolled  one  behind  the  other,  an 
occurrence  which  luckily  is  not  frequent.  The  boat, 
descending  into  the  valley  of  the  sea,  had  the  wind  taken 
out  of  her  sails  by  the  high  wave  that  was  coming ;  her 
sails  flapped,  she  lost  her  speed,  and,  as  she  rose  again, 
the  second  wave  was  a  moment  too  quick  for  her,  and 
its  combing  crest  caught  her.  The  first  thing  Lucy  saw 
was  Jack  running  from  the  helm  with  a  loud  cry  of  fear, 
followed  by  what  looked  an  arch  of  fire,  but  sounded  like 
a  lion  rushing,  growling,  on  its  prey,  and  directly  her  feet 
and  ankles  were  in  a  pool  of  water.  David  bounded  aft, 
swearing  and  splashing  through  it,  and  it  turned  into 
sparks  of  Avhite  fire,  flying  this  way  and  that ;  he  seized 
the  helm,  and  discharged  a  loud  volley  of  curses  at  Jack. 

"  Fling  out  ballast,  ye  d d  cowardly,  useless  lubber," 

cried  he;  and  while  Jack,  who  had  recoiled  into  his 
normal  state  of  nerves  with  almost  ridiculous  rapidity, 
was  heaving  out  ballast,  David  discharged  another  roll- 
ing volley  at  him. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  383 

"  Oh,  pray  don't ! "  cried  Lucy  trembling  like  an  aspen 
leaf.  "  Oh,  think !  we  shall  soon  be  in  the  presence  of 
our  Maker  —  of  Him  whose  name  you  "  — 

"Not  we,"  cried  David  with  broad,  cheerful  incredulity. 
"  We  have  lots  more  mischief  to  do,  that  lubber  and  I. 
And  if  he  thinks  he  is  going  there,  let  him  end  like  a 
man,  not  like  a  skulking  lubber,  running  from  the  helm, 
and  letting  the  craft  come  up  in  the  wind." 

"  No !  no !  It  was  the  sea  he  ran  from.  Who  would 
not  ?  " 

"  The  lubber !  If  it  had  been  a  tiger  or  a  bear,  I'd  say 
nothing,  but  what  is  the  use  of  trying  to  run  from  the 
sea?  Should  have  stuck  to  his  post,  and  set  that  thunder- 
ing back  of  his  up,  it's  broad  enough,  and  kept  the  sea 
out  of  your  boots.  The  sea,  indeed !  I  have  seen  the 
sea  come  on  board  me,  and  clear  the  deck  fore  and  aft, 
but  it  didn't  come  in  the  shape  of  a  cupful  o'  water,  and 
a  spoonful  o'  foam."  Here  David's  wrath  and  contempt 
were  interrupted  by  Jack  singing  waggishly  at  his  work, — • 

"  Cease  —  rude  Boreas  —  blustering  —  rail-er !  " 

At  which  sly  hit  David  was  pleased,  and  burst  into  a 
loud  boisterous  laugh. 

Lucy  put  her  hands  to  her-  ears.  "  Oh,  don't !  don't ! 
this  is  worse  than  your  blasphemies,  laughing  on  the 
brink  of  eternity ;  these  are  not  men,  they  are  devils." 

"Do  you  hear  that.  Jack  ?  Come,  you  behave  ! "  roared 
David. 

A  faint  snarl  from  Talboys.  The  water  had  penetrated 
him,  and  roused  him  from  a  state  of  sick  torpor.  He  lay 
in  a  tidy  little  pool  some  eight  inches  deep. 

The  boat  was  baled  and  lightened;  but  Lucy's  fears 
were  not  set  at  rest.  What  was  to  hinder  the  recurrence 
of  the  same  danger,  and  with  more  fatal  effect  ?  She 
timidly  asked  David's  permission  to  let  her  keep  the  sea 


384  LOVE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

out.  Instead  of  snubbing  her,  as  she  expected,  David 
consented  witli  a  sort  of  paternal  benevolence  tinged 
with  incredulity.  She  then  developed  her  plan  :  it  was, 
that  David,  Jack,  and  she,  should  sit  in  a  triangle,  and 
hold  the  tarpaulin  out  to  windward,  and  fence  the  ocean 
out.  Jack  being  summoned  aft  to  council,  burst  into  a 
horse-laugh ;  but  David  checked  him. 

"  There  is  more  in  it  than  you  see.  Jack ;  more  than 
she  sees,  perhaps.  My  only  doubt  is  whether  it  is  possi- 
ble ;  but  you  can  try." 

Lucy  and  Jack  then  tried  to  get  the  tarpaulin  out  to 
windward ;  instead  of  which  it  carried  them  to  leeward, 
by  the  force  of  the  wind.  The  mast  brought  them  up, 
or  Heaven  knows  where  their  new  invention  would  have 
carried  them.  With  infinite  difficulty  they  got  it  down 
and  kneeled  upon  it,  and  even  then  it  struggled.  But 
Lucy  would  not  be  defeated ;  she  made  Jack  gather  it  up 
in  the  middle,  and  roll  it  first  to  the  right,  then  to  the 
left,  till  it  became  a  solid  roll  with  two  narrow  open 
edges.  They  then  carried  it  abaft,  and  lowered  it  verti- 
cally over  the  stern-port ;  then  suddenly  turned  it  round, 
and  sat  down.  "Crack  ! "  the  wind  opened  it,  and  wrapped 
it  round  the  boat  and  the  trio. 

"  Hello  ! "  cried  David,  "  it  is  foul  of  the  rudder,"  and 
he  whipped  out  his  knife,  and  made  a  slit  in  the  stuff. 
It  now  clung  like  a  blister. 

"  There,  Mr.  Dodd,  will  not  that  keep  the  sea  out  ?  " 
asked  Ijucy  triumphantly. 

"At  any  rate,  it  may  help  to  keep  us  ahead  of  the 
sea.  Why,  Jack  !  I  seem  to  feel  it  lift  her,  it  is  as  good 
as  a  mizzen." 

"  But,  oh,  Mr.  Dodd,  there  is  another  danger !  We 
may  broach-to  ?  " 

"  How  can  she  broach-to,  when  I  am  at  the  helm  ?  here 
is  the  arm  that  won't  let  her  broach-to." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  385 

"  Then  I  feel  safe." 

"  You  are  as  safe  as  on  your  own  sofa ;  it  is  the  dis- 
comfort you  are  put  to  that  worries  me." 

"  Don't  think  so  meanly  of  me,  Mr.  Dodcl.  If  it  was 
not  for  my  cowardice,  I  should  enjoy  this  voyage  far 
more  than  the  luxurious  ease  you  think  so  dear  to  me. 
I  despise  it." 

"Mr.  Dodd,  now  I  am  no  longer  afraid,  I  am,  oh,  so 
sleepy ! " 

"  No  wonder.  Go  to  sleep.  It  is  the  best  thing  you 
can  do." 

"  Thank  you,  sir.  I  am  aware  my  conversation  is  not 
very  interesting."  Having  administered  this  sudden 
bloodless  scratch,  to  show  that  at  sea  or  ashore,  in  fair 
weather  or  foul,  she  retained  her  sex,  Lucy  disposed  her- 
self to  sleep. 

David,  steering  the  boat  with  his  left  hand,  arranged 
the  cushion  with  his  right.  She  settled  herself  to  sleep, 
for  an  irresistible  drowsiness  had  followed  the  many 
hours  of  excitement  she  had  gone  through.  Twice  the 
heavy  plunging  sea  brought  her  into  light  contact  with 
David;  she  instantly  awoke,  and  apologized  to  him  with 
gentle  dismay,  for  taking  so  audacious  a  liberty  with  that 
great  man,  commander  of  the  vessel ;  the  third  time  she 
said  nothing,  a  sure  sign  she  was  unconscious. 

Then  David,  for  fear  she  might  hurt  herself,  curled  his 
arm  around  her,  and  let  her  head  decline  upon  his  shoulder. 
Her  bonnet  fell  off.  He  put  it  reverently  on  the  other 
side  the  helm.  The  air  now  cleared,  but  the  gale  increased 
rather  than  diminished.  And  now  the  moon  rose  large 
and  bright.  The  boat  and  masts  stood  out  like  white 
stonework  against  the  flint-colored  sky,  and  the  silver 
light  played  on  Lucy's  face.  There  she  lay,  all  uncon- 
scious of  her  posture,  on  the  man's  shoulder  who  loved 
25 


386  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ISIE   LONG. 

her,  and  avIioui  she  had  refused  ;  her  head  thrown  back 
in  sweet  helplessness ;  her  rich  hair  streaming  over 
David's  shoulder;  her  eyes  closed,  but  the  long,  lovely 
lashes  meeting  so  that  the  double  fringe  was  as  speaking 
as  most  eyes,  and  her  lips  half  open  in  an  innocent  smile. 
The  storm  was  no  storm  to  her  now.  She  slept  the  sleep 
of  childhood,  of  innocence  and  peace ;  and  David  gazed 
and  gazed  on  her,  and  joy  and  tenderness  almost  more 
than  human  thrilled  through  him  ;  and  the  storm  was 
no  storm  to  him  either.  He  forgot  tlie  past,  defied  the 
future,  and,  in  the  delirium  of  his  joy,  blessed  the  sea 
and  the  wind,  and  wished  for  nothing  but,  instead  of 
the  Channel,  a  boundless  ocean,  and  to  sail  upon  it  thus ; 
her  bosom  tenderly  grazing  him,  and  her  lovely  head 
resting  on  his  shoulder,  for  ever  and  ever  and  ever. 

Thus  they  sailed  on  two  hours  and  more,  and  Jack 
now  began  to  nod. 

All  of  a  sudden  Lucy  awoke,  and,  opening  her  eyes, 
surprised  David  gazing  at  her  with  tenderness  unspeak- 
able. Awaking  possessed  with  the  notion  that  she  was 
sleeping  at  home  on  a  bed  of  down,  she  looked  dum- 
founded  an  instant ;  but  David's  eyes  soon  sent  the  blood 
into  her  cheek.  Her  whole  supple  person  turned  eel-like, 
and  she  glided  quickly,  but  not  the  least  brusquely, 
from  him ;  the  latter  might  have  seemed  discourteous. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Dodd ! "  she  cried,  "  what  am  I  doing  ?  " 

"You  have  been  getting  a  nice  sleep,  thank  Heaven." 

"  Yes,  and  making  use  of  you,  even  in  my  sleep ;  but 
we  all  impose  on  your  goodness." 

"  Why  did  you  awake  ?  you  were  happy.  You  felt  no 
care ;  and  I  was  happy  seeing  you  so." 

Lucy's  eyes  filled.  "  Kind,  true  friend,"  she  mur- 
mured, "  how  can  I  ever  thank  you  as  I  ought  ?  I  little 
deserved  that  you  should  watch  over  my  safety  as  you 
have  done,  and,  alas  !   risk  your  own.     Any  other  but 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  387 

you  would  have  borne  me  malice,  and  let  me  perish,  and 
said,  '  It  serves  her  right.' " 

"  Malice  !  Miss  Lucy.     What  for,  in  heaven's  name  ?  " 

"  For  —  for  the  affront  I  put  upon  you  :  for  the  — the 
honor  I  declined." 

"  Hate  cannot  lie  alongside  love  in  a  true  heart." 

'•  I  see  it  cannot  in  a  noble  one.  And  then  you  are  so 
generous.  You  have  never  once  recurred  to  that  unfor- 
tunate topic  ;  yet  you  have  gained  a  right  to  request 
me  —  to  reconsider  —  Mr.  Dodd,  you  have  saved  my 
life ! " 

"  What,  do  you  praise  me  because  I  don't  take  a  mean 
advantage  ?     That  would  not  be  behaving  like  a  man." 

"  I  don't  know  that.  You  overrate  your  sex,  —  and 
mine.  We  don't  deserve  such  generosity.  The  proof  is, 
Ave  reward  those  who  are  not  so  —  delicate." 

"  I  don't  trouble  my  head  about  your  sex.  They  are 
nothing  to  me,  and  never  will  be.  If  you  think  I  have 
done  my  duty  like  a  man,  and  as  much  like  a  gentleman 
as  my  homely  education  permits,  that  is  enough  for  me, 
and  I  shall  sail  for  China  as  happy  as  anything  on  earth 
can  make  me  now." 

Lucy  answered  this  by  crying  gently,  silently,  ten- 
derly. 

"  Don't  ye  cry  !     Have  I  said  something  to  vex  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  !  no  !  " 

"  Are  you  alarmed  still  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  !     I  have  such  faith  in  you." 

"  Then  go  to  sleep  again,  like  a  lamb." 

"  I  will :  then  I  shall  not  tease  you  with  my  conversa- 
tion." 

"  ]S"ow,  there  is  a  way  to  put  it ! " 

"  Forgive  me  ! " 

"  That  I  Avill,  if  you  will  take  some  repose.  There,  I 
will  lash  you  to  my  arm  with  this  handkerchief,  then 


388  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

you  can  lie  the  other  way,  and  hold  on  by  the  handker- 
chief—  there." 

She  closed  her  eyes,  and  fell  apparently  to  sleep,  but 
really  to  thinking. 

Then  David  nudged  Jack,  and  waked  him.  "  Speak 
low  now,  Jack  !  " 

"  What  is  it,  sir  ?  " 

"  Land  ahead." 

Jack  looked  out,  and  there  was  a  mountain  of  jet 
rising  out  of  the  sea,  and,  to  a  landsman's  eye,  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  them. 

''  Is  it  the  French  coast,  sir  ?  I  must  have  been 
asleep." 

"French  coast?  no,  Channel  Island  —  smallest  of 
the  lot." 

"  Better  give  it  a  wide  berth,  sir.  We  shall  go  smash 
like  a  teacup  if  we  run  on  to  one  of  them  rocky  islands." 

"  Why,  Jack,"  said  David,  reproachfully,  "  am  I  the 
man  to  run  upon  a  lee-shore,  and  such  a  night  as  this  ?  " 

"Kot  likely ;  you  will  keep  her  head  for  Cherbourg  or 
St.  Malo,  sir ;  it  is  our  only  chance." 

"  It  is  not  our  only  chance,  nor  our  best.  We  have 
been  running  a  littl  ahead  of  this  gale.  Jack  ;  there  is 
worse  in  store  for  us :  the  sea  is  rolling  mountains  high 
on  the  French  coast  this  morning,  I  know.  We  are  like 
enough  to  be  pooped  before  we  get  there,  or  swamped  on 
some  harbor-bar  at  last." 

"  Well,  sir,  we  must  take  our  chance." 

''  Take  our  chance  ?  what,  with  heads  on  our  shoulders, 
and  an  angel  on  board  that  Heaven  has  given  us  charge 
of.  No!  I  shan't  take  my  chance.  I  shall  try  all  I 
know,  and  hang  on  to  life  by  my  eyelids.  Listen  to  me. 
'  Knowledge  is  gold : '  a  little  of-  it  goes  a  long  way.  I 
don't  know  much,  myself,  but  I  do  know  the  soundings 
of  the  British  Channel.     I  have  made  them  my  study. 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  389 

On  the  south  side  of  this  rocky  point,  there  is  forty 
fathom  water  close  to  the  shore,  and  good  anchorage- 
ground." 

"  Then  I  wish  we  could  jump  over  the  thundering 
island,  and  drop  on  to  the  lee-side  of  it;  but  as  we  can't, 
what's  the  use  ?  " 

"  We  may  be  able  to  round  the  point." 

"  There  will  be  an  awful  sea  running  off  that  point, 
sir." 

"  Of  course  there  will.     I  mean  to  try  it,  for  all  that." 

"  So  be  it,  sir ;  that  is  what  I  like  to  hear.  I  do  hate 
palaver.  Let  one  give  his  orders,  and  the  rest  obey 
them.     We  are  not  above  half  a  mile  from  it  now." 

"  You  had  better  wake  the  landsman.  We  must  have 
a  third  hand  for  this." 

"Ko,"  said  a  woman's  voice,  sweet  but  clear  and 
unwavering  —  "I  shall  be  the  third  hand." 

"Curse  it!"  cried  David,  "she  has  heard  us." 

"Every  word.  And  I  have  no  confidence  in  Mr. 
Talboys  !  and,  believe  me,  I  am  more  to  be  trusted  than 
he  is.  See,  my  cowardice  is  all  worn  out.  Do  but  trust 
me,  and  you  shall  find  I  want  neither  courage  nor  intelli- 
gence." 

David  eyed  her  keenly,  and  full  in  the  face.  She  met 
his  glance  calmly,  with  her  fine  nostril  slightly  expand- 
ing, and  her  compressed  lip  curving  proudly. 

"  It  is  all  right,  Jack.  It  is  not  a  flash  in  the  pan. 
She  is  as  steady  as  a  rock ; "  he  then  addressed  her 
rapidly  and  business-like,  but  with  deference.  "You 
will  stand  by  the  helm  on  this  side,  and  the  moment  I 
run  forward,  you  will  take  the  helm,  and  hold  it  in  this 
position.  That  will  require  all  your  strength.  Come, 
try  it  —  well  done." 

"  How  the  sea  struggles  with  me  !  But  I  am  strong, 
you  see,"  cried  Lucy,  her  brow  flushed  with  the  battle. 


390  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Very  good !  you  are  strong,  and,  what  is  better,  reso- 
lute. Now,  observe  me,  this  is  port,  this  is  starboard, 
and  this  is  amidships." 

"  I  see  ;  but  how  am  1  to  know  which  to  do  ?  " 

''  I  sliall  give  you  the  word  of  command." 

"And  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  obey  it." 

"  That  is  all.  But  you  will  find  it  enough,  because  the 
sea  will  seem  to  fight  with  you.  It  will  shake  the  boat 
to  make  you  let  go,  and  will,  perhaps,  dash  in  your  face 
to  make  you  let  go." 

"  Forewarned,  forearmed,  Mr.  Dodd.  I  will  not  leave 
go.  I  will  hold  on  by  my  eyelids  —  sooner  than  add  to 
your  danger." 

"  Jack,  she  is  on  fire ;  she  gives  me  double  heart." 

•'  So  she  does  me.     She  makes  it  a  pleasure." 

They  were  now  near  enough  the  point  to  judge  what; 
they  had  to  do ;  and  the  appearance  of  the  sea  was  truly 
terrible :  the  waves  were  all  broken,  and  a  surge  of 
devouring  fire  seemed  to  rage  and  roar  round  the  point 
and  oppose  an  impassable  barrier  between  them  and  the 
inky  pool  beyond,  where  safety  lay  under  the  lee  of  the 
high  rocks. 

"  I  don't  like  it,"  said  David.  "  It  looks  to  me  like 
going  through  a  strip  of  hell-fire." 

"  But  it  is  narrow,"  said  Lucy. 

"  That  is  our  chance,  s nd  the  tide  is  coming  in.  We 
will  try  it.  She  will  drench  us;  but  I  don't  mucli  think 
she  will  swamp  us.     Are  you  ready,  all-hands  ?  " 

"Oh,  please  wait  a  minute,  till  I  do  \\])  my  hair !" 

"  Take  a  minute  ;  but  no  more." 

''  There,  it  is  done.  Mr.  Dodd,  one  word  ;  if  all  should 
fail,  and  death  be  inevitable,  tell  me  so,  just  before  we 
perish,  and  I  shall  have  something  to  say  to  you.  Now, 
I  am  ready." 

"  Jump  forward,  Jack." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  391 

"Yes,  sir/' 

"  Stand  by  to  jibe  the  foresail." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir  ! " 

"  See  our  sweeps  all  clear." 

"  Ay." 

David  now  handled  the  main-sheet,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  looked  earnestly  at  Lucy,  who  met  his  eye  with  a 
look  of  eager  attention. 

"  Starboard  a  little.  That  will  do.  Steady,  steady  as 
you  go."  As  the  boat  yielded  to  the  helm.  Jack  gathered 
in  on  the  sheet,  took  two  turns  round  the  cleat,  and  eased 
away  till  the  sail  drew  its  best.  So  far  so  good.  Both 
sails  were  now  on  the  same  side  of  the  boat :  the  wind 
on  her  port-quarter  ;  but  now  came  the  dangerous  opera- 
tion of  coming  to  the  wind,  in  a  rough  and  broken  sea, 
among  the  eddies  of  wind  and  tide  so  prevalent  off  head- 
lands. David,  with  the  main-sheet  in  his  right  hand, 
directed  Lucy  with  his  left,  as  well  as  his  voice. 

"  Starboard  the  helm,  starboard  yet ;  now  meet  her, 
so,"  and,  as  she  rounded  to,  Jack  and  he  kept  hauling 
the  sheets  aft,  and  the  boat,  her  course  and  trim  altered, 
darted  among  the  breakers  like  a  brave  man  attacking 
danger.  After  the  first  plunge,  she  went  up  and  down 
like  a  pickaxe,  coming  down  almost  where  she  went  up ; 
but  she  held  her  course,  with  the  waves  roaring  round 
her  like  a  pack  of  hell-hounds. 

More  than  half  the  terrible  strip  was  passed.  "  Star- 
board yet,"  cried  David ;  and  she  headed  towards  the 
high  mainland,  under  whose  lee  was  calm  and  safety. 
Alas  !  at  this  moment  a  snorter  of  a  sea  broke  under  her 
broadside,  and  hove  her  to  leeward  like  a  cork,  and  a 
tide  eddy  catching  her  under  the  counter,  she  came-to 
more  than  two  points,  and  her  canvas,  thus  emptied, 
shook  enough  to  tear  the  masts  out  of  her  by  the  board. 

"  Port  your   helm,    port  !    port  ! "    roared   David   in 


392  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOYE   ME   LONG. 

a  voice  like  tlie  roar  of  a  wounded  lion,  and,  in  his 
anxiety,  lie  bounded  to  the  helm  himself;  but  Lucy 
obeyed  orders  at  half  a  word,  and  David,  seeing  this, 
sprang  forward  to  help  Jack  flatten  in  the  foresheet. 
The  boat,  which  all  through  answered  the  helm  beauti- 
fully, fell  off  the  moment  Lucy  ported  the  helm,  and 
thus  they  escaped  the  impending  and  terrible  danger  of 
her  making  sternway. 

"  Helm  amidships  ! "  and  all  drew  again ;  the  black 
water  was  in  sight.  But  will  they  ever  reach  it  ?  She 
tosses  like  a  cork.  Bang !  a  breaker  caught  her  bows, 
and  drenched  David  and  Jack  to  the  very  bone.  She 
quivered  like  an  aspen-leaf,  but  held  on. 

"  Starboard  one  point ! "  cried  David,  sitting  down, 
and  lifting  an  oar  out  from  the  boat ;  but  just  as  Lucy, 
in  obeying  the  order,  leaned  a  little  over  the  lee  gunwale 
with  the  tiller,  a  breaker  broke  like  a  shell  upon  the 
boat's  broadside  abaft,  stove  in  her  upper  plank,  and 
filled  her  with  water:  some  flew  and  slapped  Lucy  in 
the  face  like  an  open  hand.  She  screamed,  but  clung  to 
the  gunwale,  and  gripped  the  helm.  Her  arm  seemed 
iron,  and  her  heart  was  steel.  While  she  clung  thus  to 
her  work,  blinded  by  the  spray,  and  expecting  death,  she 
heard  oars  splash  into  the  water,  and  mellow,  stentorian 
voices  burst  out  singing. 

In  amazement  she  turned,  squeezed  the  brine  out  of 
her  eyes,  and  looked  all  round  ;  and  lo  !  the  boat  was  in 
a  trifling  bobble  of  a  sea,  and  close  astern  was  the  surge 
of  fire  raging,  and  growling,  and  blazing  in  vain ;  and 
the  two  sailors  were  pulling  the  boat  with  superhuman 
strength  and  inspiration,  into  a  monster  mill-pool,  that 
now  lay  right  ahead,  black  as  ink  and  smooth  as  oil, — 
singing  loudly  as  they  roAved,  — 

"  Cheerily  oh,  oh  !  (pull)  cheerily  oh,  oh!  (pull) 
To  port  we  go,  oh  (pull),  to  jwrt  we  go  (pull)." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  393 

Flare  !  a   great  flaming  eye  opened  on  them  in  the 
centre  of  the  universal  blackness. 

"  Look  !  Look  !  "  cried  Lucy,  "  a  fire  in  the  mountain." 
It  was  the  lantern  of  a  French  sloop  anchored  close  to 
the  shore.  The  crew  had  heard  the  sailors'  voices.  At 
sight  of  it  David  and  Jack  cheered  so  lustily,  that  Tal- 
boys  crawled  out  of  the  water,  and  glared  vaguely.  The 
sailors  pulled  under  the  sloop's  lee  quarter.  A  coaple  of 
ropes  were  instantly  lowered,  the  lantern  held  aloft,  ruby 
heads  and  hands  clustered  at  the  gangway,  and  in  another 
minute  the  boat's  party  were  all  upon  deck  under  a  hail- 
storm of  French,  and  the  boat  fast  to  her  stern. 


394  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

The  skipper  of  the  sloop,  hearing  a  commotion  on 
deck,  came  up,  and,  taking  off  his  cap,  made  Lucy  a  bow 
in  a  style  remote  from  an  English  sailor's.  She  courte- 
sied  to  him,  and,  to  his  surprise,  addressed  him  in 
Parisian  French.  When  he  learned  she  was  from  Eng- 
land, and  had  rounded  that  point  in  an  open  boat,  he  was 
astonished. 

"Diables  d' Anglais  !  "  said  he. 

The  good-natured  Frenchman  insisted  on  Lucy  taking 
sole  possession  of  his  cabin,  in  Avhich  was  a  cheerful 
stove.  His  crew  Avere  just  as  kind  to  David,  Jack,  and 
Talboys.  This  latter  now  resumed  his  right  place  —  at 
the  head  of  mankind ;  being  the  only  one  who  could  talk 
French,  he  interpreted  for  his  companions.  He  improved 
upon  my  narrative  in  one  particular  :  he  led  the  French- 
men to  suppose  it  was  he  who  had  sailed  the  boat  from 
England,  and  weathered  the  point.  AVho  can  blame 
him  ? 

Dry  clothes  were  found  them,  and  grog  and  beef. 

AVhile  employed  on  the  victuals,  a  little  Anglo-Franc, 
aged  ten,  suddenly  rolled  out  of  a  hammock  and  offered 
aid  in  the  sweet  accents  of  their  native  tongue.  The 
sound  of  the  knives  and  forks  had  woke  the  urchin  out 
of  a  deep  sleep.  David  filled  the  hybrid,  and  then  sent 
him  to  Lucy's  cabin  to  learn  how  she  was  getting  on.  He 
returned,  and  told  them  the  lady  was  sitting  on  deck. 

"Dear  me,"  said  David,  "she  ought  to  be  in  her  bed." 
He  rose  and  went  on  deck,  followed  by  Mr.  Talboys. 
"  Had  you  not  better  rest  yourself  ?  "  said  David. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  395 

"  No,  thank  you,  Mr.  Dodd ;  I  had  a  delicious  sleep  in 
the  boat." 

Here  Talboys  put  in  his  word,  and  made  her  a 
rueful  apology  for  the  turn  his  pleasure  excursion  had 
taken. 

She  stopped  him  most  graciously.  "  On  the  contrary, 
I  have  to  thank  you,  indirectly,  for  one  of  the  pleas- 
antest  evenings  I  ever  spent.  I  never  was  in  danger 
before,  and  it  is  delightful.  I  was  a  little  frightened  at 
first,  but  it  soon  wore  off,  and  I  feel  I  should  shortly 
revel  in  it ;  only  I  must  have  a  brave  man  near  just  to 
look  at,  then  I  gather  courage  from  his  eye  ;  do  I  not, 
now,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

"  Indeed  you  do,"  said  David,  simply  enough. 

Lucy  Fountain's  appearance  and  manner  bore  out  her 
words.  Talboys  was  white :  even  David  and  Jack 
showed  some  signs  of  a  night  of  watching  and  anxiety  ; 
but  the  young  lady's  cheek  was  red  and  fresh,  her  eye 
bright,  and  she  shone  with  an  inspired  and  sprightly 
ardor  that  was  never  seen,  or  never  observed,  in  her 
before.  They  had  found  the  way  to  put  her  blood  up 
after  all ;  the  blood  of  the  Funteyns.  Such  are  thorough- 
breds, —  they  rise  with  the  occasion ;  snobs  descend  as 
the  situation  rises.  See  that  straight-necked,  small- 
nosed  mare  stepping  delicately  on  the  turnpike  ;  why,  it 
is  Languor  in  person,  picking  its  way  among  eggs.  Now 
the  hounds  cry,  and  the  horn  rings.  Put  her  at  timber, 
stream,  and  ploughed  field,  in  pleasing  rotation,  and  see 
her  now  :  up  ears  ;  open  nostril ;  nerves  steel ;  heart  in- 
vincible ;  eye  of  fire,  foot  of  wind.  And  ho,  there  !  what 
stuck  in  that  last  arable,  dead  stiff  as  the  Rosinantes  in 
Trafalgar  Square,  all  but  one  limb,  which  goes  like  a 
water-wagtail's  ?  Why,  by  Jove,  if  it  isn't  the  hero  of 
the  turnpike  road;  the  gallant,  impatient,  foaming, 
champing,  space-devouring,  curvetting  cocktail ! 


396  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Out  of  consideration  for  her  male  companions'  infirmi- 
ties, and  observing  tliat  they  were  ashamed  to  take  need- 
ful rest  while  she  remained  on  deck,  Lucy  at  length 
retired  to  her  cabin. 

She  slept  a  good  many  hours,  and  was  awakened  at 
last  by  the  rocking  of  the  sloop.  The  wind  had  fallen 
greatly,  but  it  had  also  changed  to  due  east,  which 
brought  a  heavy  ground-swell  round  the  point  into  their 
little  haven.  Lucy  made  her  toilet,  and  came  on  deck 
blooming  like  a  rose.  The  first  person  she  encountered 
was  Mr.  Talboys.  She  saluted  him  cordially ;  she  then 
inquired  for  their  companions. 

"  Oh,  they  are  gone." 

"  Gone  !     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Sailed  half  an  hour  ago.  Look,  there  is  the  boat 
coasting  the  island.  No,  not  that  way :  westward : 
out  there,  just  weathering  that  point  —  don't  you 
see  ?  " 

"  Are  they  making  a  tour  of  the  island,  then  ?  " 

Here  the  little  Anglo-Franc  put  in  his  word.  "No, 
ma'mselle,  gone  to  catch  sheep  bound  for  ze  East 
Indeeze." 

"  Gone  !  gone  !  for  good  ?  "  and  Lucy  turned  very  pale. 
The  next  moment  offended  pride  sent  the  blood  rushing 
to  her  brow.  "That  is  just  like  Mr.  Dodd;  there  is  not 
another  gentleman  in  the  world  would  have  had  the 
ill-breeding  to  go  off  like  that  to  India  without  even 
bidding  us  good-morning  or  good-by  ;  did  he  bid  you 
good-by,  Mr.  Talboys  ?  " 

"No." 

"  There  now ;  it  is  insolent ;  it  is  barbarous."  Her 
vexation  at  the  affront  David  had  put  on  Mr.  Talboys 
soon  passed  into  indignation.  "  This  was  done  to  insult 
us ;  to  humiliate  us.  A  noble  revenge.  You  know  we 
used  sometimes  to  quiz  him  a  little  ashore,  especially 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  397 

yoii ;  so  now  out  of  spite  he  has  saved  our  lives,  and  then 
turned  his  back  arrogantly  upon  us  before  we  could 
express  our  gratitude ;  that  is  as  much  as  to  say,  he 
values  us  as  so  many  dogs  or  cats,  flings  us  our 
lives  haughtily,  and  then  turns  his  back  disdainfully 
on  us.  Life  is  not  worth  having  when  given  so  insult- 
ingly." 

Talboys  soothed  the  offended  fair.  "I  really  don't 
think  he  meant  to  insult  us ;  but  you  know  Dodd ;  he  is 
a  good-natured  fellow,  but  he  never  had  the  slightest 
pretension  to  good-breeding." 

"  Don't  you  think,"  replied  the  lady,  "  it  would  be  as 
well  to  leave  off  detracting  from  Mr.  Dodd  now  that  he 
has  just  saved  your  life  ?  " 

Talboys  opened  his  eyes.     "  Why,  you  began  it." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Talboys  !  do  not  descend  to  evasion !  What 
I  say  goes  for  nothing;  Mr.  Dodd  and  I  are  fast  friends, 
and  nobody  will  ever  succeed  in  robbing  me  of  my 
esteem  for  him.  But  you  always  hated  him,  and  you 
seize  every  opportunity  of  showing  your  dislike.  Poor 
Mr.  Dodd !  He  has  too  many  great  virtues  not  to  be 
envied  —  and  hated." 

Talboys  stood  puzzled,  and  was  at  a  loss  which  way  to 
steer  his  tongue,  the  wind  being  so  shifty.  At  last  he 
observed,  a  little  haughtily,  that  he  never  made  Mr. 
Dodd  of  so  much  importance  as  all  this.  He  owned  he 
had  qiiizzed  him,  but  it  was  not  his  intention  to  quiz 
him  any  more ;  "  for  I  do  feel  under  considerable  obliga- 
tions to  Mr.  Dodd;  he  has  brought  us  safe  across  the 
Channel ;  at  the  same  time  I  own  I  should  have  been 
more  grateful  if  he  had  beat  against  the  wind  and 
landed  us  on  our  native  coast;  the  lugger  is  there 
long  before  this,  and  our  boat  was  the  best  of  the 
two." 

"Absurd!"   replied  Lucy,  with  cold  hauteur.     "The 


398  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

lugger  had  a  sliarp  stern,  but  ours  was  a  square  stern,  so 
we  were  obliged  to  run  ;  if  Ave  had  heat,  we  should  all 
have  been  drowned  directly." 

Talboys  was  staggered  by  this  sudden  influx  of  science, 
but  he  held  his  ground.  "There  is  something  in  that," 
said  he,  "  but  still  —  a  —  a  "  — 

"  There,  Mr.  Talboys,"  said  the  young  lady,  suddenly 
assuming  extreme  languor  after  delivering  a  facer,  "  pray 
do  not  engage  me  in  an  argument.  I  do  not  feel  equal 
to  one,  especially  on  a  subject  that  has  lost  its  interest. 
Can  you  inform  me  when  this  vessel  sails  ?  " 

"  Not  till  to-morrow  morning." 

"  Then  will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  borrow  me  that  little 
boat ;  it  is  dangling  from  the  ship,  so  it  must  belong  to 
it.  I  wish  to  land  and  see  whether  he  has  cast  us  upon 
an  iu-  or  an  uninhabited  island." 

The  sloop's  boat  speedily  landed  them  on  the  island, 
and  Lucy  proposed  to  cross  the  narrow  neck  of  land  and 
view  the  sea  they  had  crossed  in  the  dark.  This  was 
soon  done,  and  she  took  that  opportunity  of  looking 
about  for  the  lateen ;  for  her  mind  had  taken  another  turn, 
and  she  doubted  the  report  that  David  was  gone  to  inter 
cept  the  East  Indiaman.  A  short  glance  convinced  her 
it  was  true ;  about  seven  miles  to  leeward,  her  course 
west-north-west,  her  hull  every  now  and  then  hidden  by 
the  waves,  her  white  sails  spread  like  a  bird's,  the 
lateen  was  flying  through  the  foam  at  her  fastest  rate. 
Lucy  gazed  at  her  so  long  and  steadfastly  that  Talboys 
took  the  huff,  and  strolled  along  the  cliff. 

When  Lucy  turned  to  go  back,  she  found  the  French 
skipper  coming  towards  her  with  a  scrap  of  jmper  in  his 
hand.  He  presented  it  with  a  low  bow  ;  she  took  it 
with  a  courtesy.  It  was  neatly  folded,  though  not  as 
letters  are  folded  ashore,  and  it  bore  her  address.  She 
opened  it  and  read,  — 


LOVE   ISIE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  399 

It  was  not  worth  while  disturbing  your  rest  just  to  see  us  go 
oflf.     God  bless  vou,  Miss  Lucy !    The  Frenchman  is  bound  for 

,  and  will  take  you  safe ;  and  mind  you  don't  step  ashore 

till  the  plank  is  fast. 

Yours  respectfully, 

David  Dodd. 

That  was  all.  She  folded  it  back  thoughtfully  into 
the  original  folds,  and  turned  away.  When  she  had 
gone  but  a  few  steps  she  stopped  and  put  her  rejected 
lover's  little  note  into  her  bosom,  and  went  slowly  back 
to  the  boat  hanging  her  sweet  head,  and  crying  as  she 
went. 


400  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Mr.  Fountain  remaiued  in  the  town  waiting  for  his 
niece's  return.  Six  o'clock  came  —  no  boat.  Eight 
o'clock  —  no  boat ;  and  a  heavy  gale  blowing.  He  went 
down  to  the  beach  in  great  anxiety ;  and  when  he  got 
there  he  soon  found  it  was  shared  to  the  full  by  many 
human  beings.  There  were  little  knots  of  fishermen 
and  sailors  discussing  it,  and  one  poor  woman,  mother 
and  wife,  stealing  from  group  to  group  and  listening 
anxiously  to  the  men's  conjectures.  But  the  most 
striking  feature  of  the  scene  was  an' old  white-haired 
man,  who  walked  wildly,  throwing  his  arms  about.  The 
others  rather  avoided  him,  but  Mr.  Fountain  felt  he  had 
a  right  to  speak  to  him,  so  he  came  to  him,  told  him 
"  his  niece  was  on  board ;  and  you  too,  I  fear,  have  some 
one  dear  to  you  in  danger." 

The  old  man  replied  sorrowfully  that  "  his  lovely  new 
boat  was  in  danger,  in  such  danger  that  he  should  never 
see  her  again :  "  then  added,  going  suddenly  into  a  fury, 
that  as  to  the  two  rascally  blue-jackets  that  were  on 
board  her,  and  had  borrowed  her  of  his  wife  while  he 
was  out,  all  he  wished  was,  that  they  had  been  swamped 
to  all  eternity  long  ago  ;  then  they  would  not  have  been 
able  to  come  and  swamp  his  dear  boat. 

Peppery  old  Fountain  cursed  him  for  a  heartless  old 
vagabond,  and  joined  the  group  whose  grief  and  anxiety 
were  less  ostentatious,  being  for  the  other  boat  that  car- 
ried their  own  flesh  and  blood.  But  all  night  long  that 
white-haired  old  man  paced  the  shore,  flinging  his  arms, 
weeping  and  cursing  alternately,  for  his  dear  schooner. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  401 

Oh,  holy  love  —  of  property !  how  venerable  you 
looked  in  the  moonlight,  with  your  white  hairs  stream- 
ing !  How  well  you  imitated,  how  close  you  rivalled^ 
the  holiest  effusions  of  the  heart,  and  not  for  the  first 
time  nor  the  last ! 

"  My  daughter  !  —  my  ducats  !  —  my  ducats  !  —  my 
daughter !  "  etc. 

The  morning  broke ;  no  sign  of  either  boat.  The  wind 
had  shifted  to  the  east,  and  greatly  abated.  The  fisher- 
men began  to  have  hopes  for  their  comrades ;  these  com- 
municated themselves  to  Mr.  Fountain. 

It  was  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  this 
latter  observed  people  streaming  along  the  shore  to  a 
distant  point.  He  asked  a  coast-guard  man,  whom  he 
observed  scanninp  the  place  with  a  glass,  what  it  was. 

The  man  lowered  his  voice  and  said,  "Well,  sir,  it  will 
be  something  coming  ashore,  by  the  way  the  folk  are 
running." 

Mr.  Fountain  got  a  carriage,  and,  urging  the  driver  to 
use  speed,  was  hastily  conveyed  by  the  road  to  a  part 
whence  a  few  steps  brought  him  down  to  the  sea;  he 
thrust  wildly  in  among  the  crowd. 

"  Make  Avay,"  said  the  rough  fellows ;  they  saw  he 
was  one  of  those  who  had  the  best  right  to  be  there. 

He  looked,  and  there,  scarce  fifty  yards  from  the  shore, 
was  the  lugger,  keel  uppermost,  drifting  in  with  the 
tide.  The  old  man  staggered  and  Avas  supported  by  a 
beach-man. 

When  the  wreck  came  within  fifteen  yards  of  the 
shore,  she  hung,  owing  to  the  under  suction,  and  could 
get  neither  way.  The  cries  of  the  women  broke  out 
afresh  at  this.  Then  half  a  dozen  "stout  fellows  swam  in 
with  ropes,  and  with  some  difficulty  righted  her,  and  in 
another  minute  she  Avas  hauled  ashore. 

The  crowd  rushed  upon  her,  —  she  was  empty  !  not  an 
26 


402  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

oar,  not  a  boat-liook  :  nothing.  But  jammed  in  between 
the  tiller  and  the  boat  they  found  a  purple  veil.  The 
discovery  was  announced  loudly  by  one  of  the  females  ; 
but  the  consequent  outcry  was  instantly  hushed  by  the 
men,  and  the  oldest  fisherman  there  took  it,  and,  in  a 
sudden  dead  and  solemn  silence,  gave  it  with  a  world  of 
subdued  meaning  to  Mr.  Fountain. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LON(i.  403 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Mr.  Fountain's  grief  was  violent ;  the  more  so,  per- 
haps, that  it  was  not  pnre  sorrow,  but  heated  with  anger 
and  despair.  He  had  not  only  lost  the  creature  he  loved 
better  than  any  one  else,  except  himself,  but  all  his 
plans  and  all  his  ambition  were  upset  forever.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  there  were  moments  when  he  felt  indignant 
with  Heaven,  and  accused  its  justice.  At  other  times 
the  virtues  of  her  he  had  lost  came  to  his  recollection, 
and  he  wept  genuine  tears.  Now  she  was  dead,  he 
asked  himself  a  question  that  is  sometimes  reserved  for 
that  occasion,  and  then  asked  with  bitter  regret  and  idle 
remorse  at  its  postponement,  "  What  can  I  do  to  show 
my  love  and  respect  for  her  ? "  The  poor  old  fellow 
could  think  of  nothing  now,  but  to  try  and  recover  her 
body  from  the  sea,  and  to  record  her  virtues  on  her  tomb. 
He  employed  six  men  to  watch  the  coast  for  her  along  a 
space  of  twelve  miles,  and  he  went  to  a  marble-cutter, 
and  ordered  a  block  of  beautiful  white  marble.  He  drew 
up  the  record  of  her  virtues  himself,  and  spelt  her 
"Fontaine,"  and  so  settled  that  question  by  brute  force. 

Oh,  you  may  giggle!  but  men  are  not  most  sincere 
when  they  are  most  reasonable,  nor  most  reasonable 
when  most  sincere.  When  a  man's  heart  is  in  a  thing, 
it  is  in  it :  wise  or  nonsensical,  it  is  all  one  ;  so  it  is  no 
use  talking. 

I  lack  words  to  describe  the  gloom  that  fell  on  Mr. 
Bazalgette's  home  when  the  sad  tidings  reached  it.  And, 
indeed,  it  would  be  trifling  with  my  reader  to  hang 
many  more  pages  with  black  when  he  and  I  both  know 
Lucy  Fountain  is  alive  all  the  time. 


40  i  J;OVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Meantime  the  French  sloop  lay  at  her  anchor,  and 
Lncy  fretted  with  impatience.  At  noon  the  next  day 
she  sailed,  and,  being  a  slow  vessel,  did  not  anchor  off 

the  port  of till  daybreak  the  day  after.     Then  she 

had  to  wait  for  the  tide,  and  it  was  nearly  eleven  o'clock 
when  Lncy  landed.  She  went  immediately  to  the  prin- 
cipal inn  to  get  a  conveyance.  On  the  road,  whom 
should  she  meet  but  Mr.  Hardie  !  He  gave  a  joyful  start 
at  sight  of  her,  and,  with  more  heart  than  she  could  have 
expected,  welcomed  her  to  life  again.  From  him  she 
learned  all  the  proofs  of  her  death.  This  made  her  more 
anxious  to  fly  to  her  aunt's  house  at  once,  and  undeceive 
her. 

Mr.  Hardie  would  not  let  her  hire  a  carriage ;  he  Avould 
drive  her  over  in  half  the  time.  He  beckoned  his 
servant,  who  was  standing  at  the  inn-door,  and  ordered 
it  immediately.  ''•  Meantime,  Miss  Fountain,  if  you  will 
take  my  arm,  I  will  show  you  something  that  I  think 
will  amuse  you,  though  ive  have  found  it  anything  but 
amusing,  as  you  may  well  suppose."  Lucy  took  his 
arm  somewhat  timidly,  and  he  walked  her  to  the  marble- 
cutter's  shop.  "  Look  there,"  said  he.  Lucy  looked, 
and  there  was  an  unfinished  slab,  on  which  she  read 
these  words : 

^acrcti  to  tl)c  fHcmorg 

ov 
LUCY  FONTAINE, 

WHO  WAS  DROWNED  AT  SEA, 
ON  THE  lOTH  SEPT.,  18 

As  her  beauty  endeared  her  to  all  ej-ea, 
So  her  modesty,  piety,  dot-ilit 

At  this  point  in  her  moral  virtues  the  chisel  had 
stopped.     Eleven   o'clock   struck,  and   the   chisel  went 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  405 

for  its  beer.  For  your  English  workman  would  leave 
the  d  in  "  God "  half-linished  when  strikes  the  hour  of, 
beer. 

The  fact  is,  that  the  shopkeeper  had  newly  set  up,  was 
proud  of  the  commission,  and,  whenever  the  chisel  left 
off,  he  whipped  into  the  workshop,  and  brought  the  slab 
out,  2^i'o  tern.,  into  his  window,  for  an  advertisement. 

Hardie  pointed  it  out  to  Lucy  with  a  chuckle.  Lucy 
turned  pale,  and  put  her  hand  to  her  heart.  Hardie  saw 
his  mistake  too  late,  and  muttered  excuses. 

Lucy  gave  a  little  gasp,  and  stopped  him.  "  Pray  say 
no  more ;  it  is  my  fault.  If  people  will  feign  death, 
they  must  expect  these  little  tributes.  My  uncle  has 
lost  no  time."  And  two  unreasonable  tears  swelled  to 
her  eyes,  and  trickled  one  after  another  down  her  cheeks  ; 
then  she  turned  her  back  quickly  on  the  thing,  and  Mr. 
Hardie  felt  her  arm  tremble.  "I  think,  Mr.  Hardie," 
said  she  presently,  with  marked  courtesy,  "  I  should, 
under  the  circumstances,  prefer  to  go  home  alone.  My 
aunt's  nerves  are  sensitive,  and  I  must  think  of  the  best 
way  of  breaking  to  her  the  news  that  I  am  alive." 

"It  would  be  best.  Miss  Fountain;  and,  to  tell  the 
truth,  I  feel  myself  unworthy  to  accompany  you,  after 
being  so  maladroit  as  to  give  you  pain  in  thinking  to 
amuse  you." 

"  0  Mr.  Hardie  !  "  said  Lucy,  growing  more  and  more 
courteous,  "  you  are  not  to  be  called  to  account  for  my 
weakness ;  that  would  be  unjust.  I  shall  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  dinner  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  since  you  permit  me." 

He  put  Lucy  into  the  carriage,  and  off  she  drove. 
"Come,"  thought  Mr.  Hardie,  "I  have  had  an  escape. 
What  a  stupid  blunder  for  me  to  make  !  She  is  not 
angry  though,  so  it  does  not  matter :  she  asked  me  to 
dinner." 


406  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Said  Lucy  to  herself,  "  The  man  is  a  fool.  Poor  jVIr. 
Dodd !  he  would  not  have  shown  me  my  tombstone,  to 
amuse  me."  And  she  dismissed  the  subject  from  her 
mind. 

She  sent  away  the  carriage,  and  entered  Mr.  Bazal- 
gette's  house  on  foot.  After  some  consideration,  she 
determined  to  employ  Jane,  a  girl  of  some  tact,  to  break 
her  existence  to  her  aunt.  She  glided  into  the  drawing- 
room  unobserved,  fully  expecting  to  find  Jane  at  work 
there  for  Mrs.  Bazalgette.  But  the  room  was  empty. 
While  she  hesitated  what  to  do  next,  the  handle  of  the 
door  was  turned,  and  she  had  only  just  time  to  dart 
behind  a  heavy  window-cvirtain,  when  it  opened,  and 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  walked  slowly  and  silently  in,  followed 
by  a  woman.  Mrs.  Bazalgette  seated  herself,  and  sighed 
deeply.  Her  companion  kept  a  respectful  silence.  After 
a  considerable  pause,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  said  a  few  words 
in  a  voice  so  thoroughly  subdued  and  solemn,  and  every 
now  and  then  so  stifled,  that  Lucy's  heart  yearned  for 
her,  and  nothing  but  the  fear  of  frightening  her  aunt 
into  an  hysterical  fit  kept  her  from  flying  into  her  arms. 

"  I  need  not  tell  you,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  "  why  I 
sent  for  you :  you  know  the  sad  bereavement  that  has 
fallen  on  me ;  but  you  cannot  know  all  I  have  lost  in 
her.  Nobody  can  tell  what  she  was  to  all  of  vis,  but 
most  of  all  to  me.  I  was  her  darling,  and  she  was 
mine."  Here  tears  choked  Mrs.  Bazalgette's  words  for 
awhile.  Recovering  herself,  she  paid  a  tribute  to  the 
character  of  the  deceased.  "  It  was  a  soul  without  one 
grain  of  selfishness  :  all  her  thoughts  were  for  others, 
not  one  for  herself.  She  loved  us  all.  Indeed,  she 
loved  some  that  were  hardly  worthy  of  so  pure  a  crea- 
ture's love  ;  but  the  reason  was,  she  had  no  eye  for  the 
faults  of  her  friends.  She  pictured  them  like  herself, 
and  loved  her  own  sweet  image  in  them.     And  such  a 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  407 

temper !  and  so  free  from  guile.  I  may  truly  say  her 
mind  was  as  lovely  as  lier  person." 

"She  was,  indeed,  a  sweet  young  lady,"  sighed  the 
woman. 

"  She  was  an  angel,  Baldwin ;  an  angel,  sent  to  bear 
us  company  a  little  while,  and  now  she  is  a  saint  in 
heaven." 

"Ah,  ma'am  !  the  best  goes  first,  that  is  an  old  saying." 

"So  I  have  heard;  but  my  niece  was  as  healthy  as 
she  was  lovely  and  good.  Everything  promised  long  life. 
I  hoped  she  would  have  closed  my  eyes.  In  the  bloom  of 
health  one  day,  and  the  next  lying  cold,  stark,  and 
drenched !  Oh,  how  terrible  !  Oh,  my  poor  Lucy  !  oh  ! 
oh  !  oh  ! " 

"  In  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death,  ma'am.  I  am 
sure  it  is  a  warning  to  me,  ma'am,  as  well  as  to  my 
betters." 

"  It  is,  indeed,  Baldwin,  a  warning  to  all  of  us  who 
have  lived  too  much  for  vanities,  to  think  of  this  sweet 
flower,  snatched  in  a  moment  from  our  bosoms  and  from 
the  Avorld.  We  ought  to  think  of  it  on  our  knees,  and 
remember  our  own  latter  end.  That  last  skirt  you  sent 
me  was  rather  scrimped,  my  poor  Baldwin." 

"  Was  it,  ma'am  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it  does  not  matter !  I  shall  never  wear  it  now ; 
and,  under  such  a  blow  as  this,  I  am  in  no  humor  to  find 
fault.  Indeed,  with  my  grief  I  neglect  my  household, 
and  my  very  children.  I  forget  everything.  What  did 
I  send  for  you  for  ? "  and  she  looked  with  lack-lustre 
eyes  full  in  Mrs.  Baldwin's  face. 

"Jane  did  not  say,  ma'am  ;  but  I  am  at  your  orders." 

"  Oh,  of  course !  I  am  distracted.  It  was  to  pay  the 
last  tribute  of  respect  to  her  dear  memory.  Ah,  Bald- 
win, often  and  often  the  black  dress  is  all ;  but  here  the 
hea^t  mourns  beyond  the  power  of  grief  to  express  by 


408  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

any  outward  trappings.  Ko  matter;  the  world,  the 
shallow  world,  respect,  these  signs  of  Avoe,  and  let  mine 
be  the  deepest  mourning  ever  worn  and  the  richest. 
And  out  of  that  mourning  I  shall  never  go  whilst  I  live." 

"  No,  ma'am,"  said  Baldwin  soothingly. 

"  Do  you  doubt  me  ?  "  asked  the  lady,  with  a  touch  of 
sharpness  that  did  not  seem  called  for  by  Baldwin's 
humble  acquiescence. 

"  Oh,  no,  ma'am !  it  is  a  very  natural  thought  under 
the  present  affliction,  and  most  becoming  the  sad  occa- 
sion. Well,  ma'am,  the  deepest  mourning,  if  you  please. 
I  should  say  cashmere  and  crape." 

"  Yes,  that  would  be  deep.  0  Baldwin,  it  is  her  vio- 
lent death  that  kills  me  !     Well  ?  " 

''  Cashmere  and  crape,  ma'am,  and  with  nothing  white 
about  the  neck  and  arms." 

"  Yes ;  oh,  yes !  but  will  not  that  be  rather  unbe- 
coming ?  " 

"Well,  ma'am"  —  and  Baldwin  hesitated. 

"  I  hardly  see  how  I  could  wear  that :  it  makes  one 
look  so  old.  Now,  don't  you  think  black  glace  silk 
and  trimmed  with  love-ribbon,  black  of  course,  but 
scalloped  ?  " 

"  That  would  be  very  rich,  indeed,  ma'am,  and  very 
becoming  to  you ;  but,  being  so  near  and  dear,  —  it  would 
not  be  so  deep  as  you  are  desirous  of." 

''  Why,  Baldwin,  you  don't  attend  to  Avhat  I  say.  I 
told  you  I  was  never  going  out  of  mourning  again ;  so 
what  is  the  use  of  your  proposing  anything  to  me  that  I 
can't  wear  all  my  life  ?  Now,  tell  me,  can  I  always 
wear  cashmere  and  crape  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  ma'am  ;  that  is  out  of  the  question ;  and,  if 
it  is  for  a  permanency,  I  don't  see  how  we  could  improve 
on  glace  silk,  with  crape,  and  love-ribbons.  Would  you 
like  the  body  trimmed  with  jet,  ma'am  ?" 


LOVE   ISIE   LTTTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  409 

"  Oh,  don't  ask  me  ;  I  don't  know.  If  my  darling  had 
only  died  comfortably  in  her  bed,  then  we  could  have 
laid  out  her  sweet  remains,  and  dressed  them  for  her 
virgin  tomb." 

"  It  would  have  been  a  satisfaction,  ma'am." 

"  A  sad  one  at  the  best ;  but  now  the  very  earth  per- 
haps will  never  receive  her.  Oh,  yes  ;  anything  you  like, 
the  body  trimmed  with  jet  if  you  wish  it,  and,  let  me 
see,  a  gauze  bodice,  goffered,  fastened  to  the  throat. 
That  is  all,  I  think  ;  the  sleeves  confined  at  the  wrist 
just  enough  not  to  expose  the  arm,  and  yet  look  light,  — 
you  understand." 

"  Yes,  ma'am." 

"  She  kissed  me  just  before  she  went  on  that  fatal 
excursion,  Baldwin ;  she  Avill  never  kiss  me  again ;  oh, 
oh !  You  must  call  on  Dejazet  for  me,  and  bespeak  me 
a  bonnet  to  match ;  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  I  can 
run  about  after  her  trumpery  at  such  a  time ;  besides,  it 
is  not  usual." 

"  Indeed,  ma'am,  you  are  in  no  state  for  it ;  I  will 
undertake  any  purchases  you  may  require." 

"  Thank  you,  my  good  Baldwin ;  you  are  a  good,  kind, 
feeling,  useful  soul.  Oh,  Baldwin,  if  it  had  pleased 
Heaven  to  take  her  by  disease,  it  would  have  been  bad 
enough  to  lose  her.  But  to  be  drowned !  her  clothes  all 
wetted  through  and  through;  her  poor  hair  drenched 
too,  and  then  the  water  is  so  cold  at  this  time  of  year ; 
oh,  oh  !  Send  me  a  cross  of  jet,  and  jet  beads,  with  the 
dress,  —  and  a  jet  brooch  —  and  a  set  of  jet  buttons,  in 
case,  —  besides,  oh,  oh,  oh!  I  expect  every  moment  to 
see  her  carried  home,  all  pale  and  wetted  by  the  nasty 
sea;  oh,  oh! — And  an  evening  dress  of  the  same,  the 
newest  fashion.  I  leave  it  to  you;  don't  ask  me  any 
questions  about  it,  for  I  can't  and  won't  go  into  that. 
I  can  try  it  on  when  it  is  made ;  oh,  oh,  oh  !  it  does  not 


410  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   WE,   LONG. 

do  to  love  any  creature  as  I  loved  my  poor  lost  Lucy:  — 
and  a  black  fan ;  oh,  oh !  and  a  dozen  pair  of  black  kid 
gloves ;  oh !  and  a  mourning  ring,  —  and  "  — 

"  Stop,  aunt,  or  your  love  for  me  will  be  your  ruin  !  " 
said  Lucy  coldly,  and  stood  suddenly  before  the  pair 
looking  rather  cynical. 

"  What,  Lucy  !  alive  !     No,  her  ghost,  ah,  ah ! " 

''Be  calm,  aunt,  I  am  alive  and  well.  Now  don't  be 
childish,  dear ;  I  have  been  in  danger,  but  here  I  am." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  and  Mrs.  Baldwin  fleAV  together  and 
trembled  in  one  another's  arms.  Lucy  tried  to  soothe 
them,  but  at  last  could  not  help  laughing  at  them.  This 
brought  Baldwin  to  her  senses  quicker  than  anything : 
but  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  who,  like  many  false  women,  was 
hysterical,  went  off  into  spasms,  genuine  ones.  They 
gave  her  salts  —  in  vain.     Slapped  her  liands  —  in  vain. 

Then  Lucy  cried  to  Baldwin,  "Quick,  the  tumbler,  I 
must  sprinkle  her  face  and  bosom." 

"  Oh,  don't  spoil  my  lilac  gown !  "  gasped  the  sufferer, 
and  with  a  mighty  effort  she  came  to.  She  would  have 
come  back  from  the  edge  of  the  grave  to  shield  silk 
from  water.  Finally  she  wreathed  her  arms  round  Lucy, 
and  kissed  her  so  tenderly,  warmly,  and  sobbingly,  that 
Lucy  got  over  the  shock  of  her  shallowness,  and  they 
kissed  and  cried  together  most  joyously,  while  Baldwin, 
after  a  heroic  attempt  at  jubilation,  retired  from  the  room 
with  a  face  as  long  as  your  arm.  A  has  les  revenants ! 
She  went  to  the  housekeeper's  room.  The  housekeeper 
persuaded  her  to  stay  and  take  a  bit  of  dinner ;  and 
soon  after  dinner  she  was  sent  for  to  Mrs.  Bazalgette's 
room. 

Lucy  met  her  coming  out  of  it.  "  I  fear  I  came  mal 
apropos,  Mrs.  Baldwin ;  if  I  had  thought  of  it,  I  would 
have  waited  till  you  had  secured  that  munificent  order." 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,  miss,  I  am  sure  j  but  you 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  411 

were  always  a  considerate  young  lady :  you'll  be  glad  to 
learn,  miss,  it  makes  no  difference  ;  I  have  got  the  order ; 
it  is  all  right." 

"  That  is  fortunate,"  replied  Lucy  kindly,  "  otherwise 
I  should  have  been  tempted  to  commit  an  extravagance 
with  you  myself.  Well,  and  what  is  my  aunt's  new 
dress  to  be  now  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  same,  miss." 

"  The  same  ?  why,  slie  is  not  going  into  mourning  on 
my  return  ?  ha,  ha  !  " 

"  La,  bless  you,  miss,  mourning  ?  you  can't  call  that 
mourning;  glace  silk,  and  love-ribbons  scalloped  out, 
and  cetera.  Of  course  it  was  not  my  business  to  tell 
her  so,  but  I  could  not  help  thinking  to  myself,  —  if  that 
is  the  way  my  folk  are  going  to  mourn  for  me,  they  may 
just  let  it  alone.  However,  that  is  all  over  now,  and 
your  aunt  sent  for  me,  and  says  she,  '  Black  becomes  me  ; 
you  will  make  the  dresses  all  the  same.' "  And  Baldwin 
retired  radiant. 

Lucy  put  her  hand  to  her  bosom.  "  Make  the  dresses 
all  the  same  !  —  All  the  same,  Avhether  I  am  alive  or 
dead  !  No,  I  will  not  cry  ;  no,  I  will  not.  Who  is  worth 
a  tear  ?  what  is  worth  a  tear  ?  All  the  same  !  It  is  not 
to  be  forgotten  —  nor  forgiven.     Poor  Mr.  Dodd  !  " 

Mr.  Fountain  learned  the  good  news  in  the  town,  so 
his  meeting  with  Lucy  was  one  of  pure  joy.  Mr.  Talboys 
did  not  hear  anything.  He  had  business  up  in  London^ 
and  did  not  stay  ten  minutes  in . 

The  house  revived,  and  jubilabat,  jubilabat.  But  after 
the  first  burst  of  triumph,  things  went  flat.  David  Dodd 
was  gone,  and  was  missed ;  and  Lucy  was  changed.  She 
looked  a  shade  older,  and  more  than  one  shade  graver ; 
and  instead  of  living  solely  for  those  who  happened  to 
be  basking  in  her  rays,  she  was  now  and  then  compara- 
tively inattentive,  thoughtful,  and  distraite. 


\ 


412  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Mr.  Fountain  watclied  her  keenly  ;  ditto  Mrs.  Bazal- 
gette.  A  slight  reaction  had  taken  place  in  both  their 
bosoms.  "  Hang  the  girl !  there  were  we  breaking  our 
hearts  for  her,  and  she  was  alive."  She  had  '•  beguiled 
them  of  their  tears." — Othello.  But  they  still  loved 
her  quite  well  enough  to  take  charge  of  her  fate. 

A  sort  of  itch  for  settling  other  people's  destinies,  and 
so  gaining  a  title  to  their  curses  for  our  pragmatical  and 
fatal  interference,  is  the  commonest  of  all  the  forms  of 
sanctioned  lunacy. 

Moreover,  these  two  had  imbibed  the  spirit  of  rivalry, 
and  each  was  stimulated  by  the  suspicion  that  the  other 
was  secretly  at  work. 

Lucy's  voluntary  promise  in  the  ball-room  was  a 
double  sheet  anchor  to  Mr.  Fountain.  It  secured  him 
against  the  only  rival  he  dreaded.  Talboys,  too,  was 
out  of  the  way  just  now,  and  the  absence  of  the  suitor 
is  favorable  to  his  success,  where  the  lady  has  no  per- 
sonal liking  for  him.  To  work  went  our  Machiavel  again 
heart  and  soul ;  and  whom  do  you  think  he  had  the  cheek, 
or,  as  the  French  say,  the  forehead,  to  try  and  win  over  ? 
Mrs.  Bazalgette. 

This  bold  step,  however,  was  not  so  strange  as  it  would 
have  been  a  month  ago.  The  fact  is,  I  have  brought  you 
unfairly  close  to  this  pair.  AVhen  you  meet  them  in  the 
world,  you  will  be  charmed  with  both  of  them,  and 
recognize  neither.  There  are  whose  faults  are  all  on 
the  surface :  these  are  generally  disliked :  there  are 
whose  faults  are  all  at  the  core:  they  charm  creation. 
Mrs.  Bazalgette  is  allowed  by  both  sexes  to  be  the  most 
delightful,  amiable  woman  in  the  county,  and  will  carry 
that  reputation  to  her  grave.  Fountain  is  *'  the  jolliest 
old  buck  ever  went  on  two  legs."  I  myself  would  rather 
meet  twelve  such  agreeable  liumljugs — six  of  a  sex  — 
at  dimier  —  than  the  twelve  apostles;  and  so  would  you, 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  413 

though  you  don't  know  it.  These  two,  then,  had  long 
ere  this  found  each  other  mighty  agreeable.  The  woman 
saw  the  man's  vanity,  and  flattered  it.  The  man  the 
woman's,  and  flattered  it.  Neither  saw  —  am  I  to  say — • 
his  own,  or  her  own  ?  or  what  ?  Hang  language  !  In 
short,  they  had  long  ago  oiled  one  another's  asperities, 
and  their  intercourse  was  smooth  and  frequent;  they 
were  always  chatting  together:  strewing  flowers  of 
speech  over  their  mines  and  countermines. 

Mr.  Fountain,  then,  Avho,  in  virtue  of  his  sex  had  the 
less  patience,  broke  ground. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  I  would  not  have  missed 
this  visit  for  a  thousand  pounds.  Certainly  there  is 
nothing  like  contact  for  rubbing  off  prejudices.  I  little 
thought  when  I  first  came  here,  the  principal  attraction 
of  the  place  Avould  prove  to  be  my  fair  hostess." 

"  I  know  you  were  prejudiced,  my  dear  Mr.  Fountain. 
I  can't  say  I  ever  had  any  against  you ;  but  certainly  I 
did  not  know  half  your  good  qualities.  However,  your 
courtesy  to  me  when  I  invaded  you  at  Font  Abbey  pre- 
pared me  for  your  real  character :  and  now  this  visit,  I 
trust,  makes  us  friends." 

"  Ah !  my  dear  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  one  thing  only  is 
wanting  to  make  you  my  benefactor  as  well  as  friend : 
if  I  could  only  persuade  you  to  withdraw  your  powerful 
opposition  to  a  poor  old  fellow's  dream." 

"  What  poor  old  fellow  ?  " 

«  Me." 

"  You  ?  why,  you  are  not  so  very  old.  You  are  not 
above  fifty." 

"Ah,  fair  lady,  you  must  not  evade  me.  Come,  can 
nothing  soften  you  ?  " 

"I  don't  know  what  you  mean,  Mr.  Fountain,"  and 
the  mellifluous  tones  dried  suddenly. 

"  You  are  too  sagacious  not  to  know  everything ;  you 


414  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

know  my  heart  is  set  on  marrying  my  niece  to  a  man  of 
ancient  family." 

"■  With  all  my  heart.  You  have  only  to  use  your 
influence  with  her.     If  she  consents,  I  will  not  oppose." 

"You  cruel  little  lady,  you  know  it  is  not  enough  to 
withdraw  opposition;  I  can't  succeed  without  your  kind 
aid  and  support." 

"  Now,  Mr.  Fountain,  I  am  a  great  coward,  but  really 
I  could  almost  venture  to  scold  you  a  little.  Is  not  a 
poor  little  woman  to  be  allowed  to  set  her  heart  on 
things  as  well  as  a  poor  old  gentleman,  who  does  not  look 
fifty  ?  You  know  my  poor  little  heart  is  bent  on  her 
marrying  into  our  own  set ;  yet  you  can  ask  me  to  influ- 
ence her  the  other  way ;  me,  who  have  never  once  said 
a  word  to  her  for  my  own  favorites.  No ;  the  fairest, 
kindest,  and  best  way  is  to  leave  her  to  select  her  own 
happiness." 

"A  fine  thing  it  would  be  if  young  people  were  left  to 
marry  whom  they  like,"  retorted  Fountain.  "  My  dear 
lady,  I  would  never  have  asked  your  aid  so  long  as  there 
was  the  least  chance  of  her  marrying  Mr.  Hardie ;  but 
now  that  she  has  of  her  own  accord  declined  him  "  — 

"  AVhat  is  that  ?  declined  Mr.  Hardie  ?  Avhen  did  he 
ever  propose  for  her  ?  " 

"You  misunderstand  me.  She  came  to  me  and  told 
me  she  would  never  marry  him." 

"  AVlien  was  that  ?     I  don't  believe  it." 

"  It  Avas  in  the  ballroom." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  reflected;  then  she  turned  very  red. 
"  Well,  sir,"  said  she,  "  don't  build  too  much  on  that,  for 
four  months  ago  she  made  me  a  solemn  promise  she 
would  never  marry  any  lover  you  should  find  her,  and 
she  repeated  that  promise  in  your  very  house." 

"I  don't  belieA'e  it,  madam." 

"That  is  polite,  sir.     Come,  Mr.  Fountain,  you  are 


LOVE   ]\rE   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  415 

agitated  and  cross,  and  it  is  no  nse  being  cross  either 
with  me  or  with  Lucy.  You  asked  my  co-operation. 
You  gentlemen  can  ask  anything ;  and  you  are  wise  to 
do  these  droll  things  —  that  is  where  you  gain  the 
advantage  over  us  poor  cowards  of  women.  Well,  I 
will  co-operate  with  you.  Now  listen :  Lucy's  inncluint 
is  neither  for  Mr.  Hardie  nor  Mr.  Talboys,  but  for 
Mr.  Dodd." 

"  You  don't  mean  it  ?  " 

"  Oh !  she  does  not  care  much  for  him ;  she  has  refused 
him  to  my  knowledge,  and  would  again.  Besides,  he  is 
gone  to  India,  so  there  is  an  end  of  him.  She  seems  a 
little  languid  and  out  of  spirits  ;  it  may  be  because  he 
is  gone.  Noav,  then,  is  the  very  time  to  press  a  marriage 
upon  her." 

"The  very  worst  time,  surely,  if  she  is  really  such  an 
idiot  as  to  be  fretting  for  a  fellow  who  is  away." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  informed  her  new  ally,  condescend- 
ingly, that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  sex  he  had  under- 
taken to  tackle. 

"  When  a  cold-blooded  girl  like  this,  who  has  no  strong 
attachment,  is  out  of  spirits,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing, 
then  is  the  time  she  falls  to  any  resolute  wooer.  She 
will  yield  if  we  both  insist,  and  we  tnill  insist.  Only 
keep  your  temper,  and  let  nothing  tempt  you  to  say  an 
unkind  word  to  her." 

She  then  rang  the  bell,  and  desired  that  Miss  Fountain 
might  be  requested  to  come  into  the  drawing-room. for  a 
minute. 

"  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  Give  her  the  choice  of  two  husbands  —  Mr.  Talboys 
or  Mr.  Hardie." 

"  She  will  take  neither,  I  am  afraid." 

"Oh,  yes,  she  will." 

"Which?" 


416  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ]\IE   LONG. 

"  All !  the  one  slie  dislikes  the  least." 

"  By  Jove  !  you  are  right ;  you  are  an  angel ; "  and  the 
old  gentleman,  in  his  gratitude  to  her  who  was  outwitting 
him,  and  vice  veraa,  kissed  Mrs.  Bazalgette's  hand  with 
great  devotion,  in  which  act  he  was  surj)rised  by  Lucy, 
who  floated  through  the  folding-doors.  She  said  noth- 
ing, but  her  face,  volumes. 

"  Sit  down,  love." 

"Yes,  aunt." 

She  sat  down,  and  her  eye  mildly  bored  both  relatives, 
like,  if  you  can  imagine,  a  gentle  gimlet  worked  by 
insinuation,  not  force. 

Then  the  favored  Fountain  enjoyed  the  inestimable 
privilege  of  beholding  a  small  bout  of  female  fence. 

The  accomplished  actress  of  forty  began. 

The  novice  held  herself  apparently  all  open  with  a 
sweet  smile,  the  eye  being  the  only  weapon  that  showed 
point. 

"  My  love,  your  uncle  and  I,  who  were  not  alwa3-s  just 
to  one  another,  have  been  united  by  our  love  for  you." 

"  So  I  observed  as  I  came  in  —  ahem  ! " 

"  Henceforth  we  are  one,  where  your  welfare  is  con- 
cerned, and  we  have  something  serious  to  say  to  you 
now.  There  is  a  report,  dearest,  creeping  about,  that 
you  have  formed  an  unfortunate  attachment — to  a 
person  beneath  you." 

"  Who  told  you  that,  aunt  ?  Name,  as  they  say  in 
the  House." 

"  No  matter.  These  things  are  commonly  said  without 
foundation  in  this  wicked  world ;  but,  still,  it  is  always 
worth  our  while  to  prove  them  false,  not,  of  course, 
directly  :  ^  qui  s'excAise  s'accusej'  but  indirectly." 

"I  agree  with  you,  and  I  shall  do  so  in  my  uncle's 
presence.  You  were  present,  aunt,  though  uninvited, 
when  the  gentleman  you  allude  to  offered  me  what  I 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME    LONG.  417 

consider  a  great  honor,  and  you  heard  me  decline  it. 
You  are  therefore  fully  able  to  contradict  that  report 
whose  source,  by  the  by,  you  have  not  given  me ;  and  of 
course  you  will  contradict  it." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  colored  a  little.  But  she  said,  affec- 
tionately, "  These  silly  rumors  are  best  contradicted  by 
a  good  marriage,  love,  and  that  brings  me  to  something 
more  important.  We  have  two  proposals  for  you,  and 
both  of  them  excellent  ones.  Now,  in  a  matter  where 
your  happiness  is  at  stake,  your  uncle  and  I  are  deter- 
mined not  to  let  our  private  partialities  speak.  We  do 
press  you  to  select  one  of  these  offers,  but  leave  you 
quite  free  as  to  which  you  take.  Mr.  Talboys  is  a  gen- 
tleman of  old  family  and  large  estates.  Mr.  Hardie  is  a 
wealthy  and  able  and  rising  man.  They  are  both  attached 
to  you,  both  excellent  matches.  Whichever  you  choose, 
your  uncle  and  I  shall  both  feel  that  an  excellent  posi- 
tion for  life  is  yours,  and  no  regret  that  you  did  not 
choose  our  especial  favorite  shall  stain  our  joy  or  our 
love."  With  this  generous  sentiment  tears  welled  from 
her  eyes ;  whereat  Fountain  worshipped  her,  and  felt  his 
littleness. 

But  Lucy  was  of  her  own  sex,  and  had  observed  what 
an  unlimited  command  of  eye-water  an  hysterical  female 
possesses.  She  merely  bowed  her  head  graciously,  and 
smiled  politely.  Thus  encouraged  to  proceed,  her  aunt 
dried  her  eyes  with  a  smile,  and  with  genial  cheerfulness 
proceeded :  "  Well,  then,  dear,  which  shall  it  be  ?  Mr. 
Talboys  ?  " 

Lucy  opened  her  eyes  so  innocently.  '^  My  dear  aunt, 
I  wonder  at  that  question  from  you.  Did  you  not  make 
me  promise  you  I  would  never  marry  that  gentleman, 
nor  any  friend  of  my  uncle's  ?  " 

"  And  did  you  ?  "  cried  Fountain. 

"  I  did,"  replied  the  penitent,  hanging  her  head.  "  My 
27 


418  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONO. 

aunt  was  so  kind  to  nie  about  something  or  other,  I 
forget  what." 

Fountain  bounced  up  and  paced  the  room. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  lowered  her  voice.  "  It  is  to  be  Mr. 
Hardie,  then  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Hardie ! "  cried  Lucy,  rather  loudly,  to  attract 
her  uncle's  attention,  "  Oh,  no !  the  same  objection 
applies  there.  I  made  my  uncle  a  solemn  promise  not 
to  marry  any  friend  of  yours,  aunt.  Poor  uncle !  I 
refused  at  lirst ;  but  he  looked  so  unhappy,  my  resolution 
failed,  and  I  gave  my  promise.  I  will  keep  it,  uncle. 
Don't  fear  me." 

It  cost  Mrs.  Bazalgette  a  fierce  struggle  to  command 
her  teijiper.  Both  she  and  Fountain  were  dumb  for  a 
minute.     Then  elastic  Mrs.  Bazalgette  said,  — 

"  We  Avere  both  to  blame ;  you  and  I  did  not  really 
know  each  other.  The  best  thing  we  can  do  now  is  to 
release  the  poor  girl  from  these  silly  promises,  that 
stand  in  the  way  of  her  settlement  in  life." 

"  I  agree,  madam." 

"  So  do  J.  There,  Lucy,  choose :  for  we  both  release 
you." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Lucy,  gravely ;  "but  how  can  you  ? 
No  unfair  advantage  was  taken  of  me.  I  plighted  my 
word  knowingly  and  solemnly,  and  no  human  power  can 
release  persons  of  lionor  from  a  solemn  pledge.  Besides, 
just  now  you  would  release  me  ;  but  you  might  not  always 
be  in  the  same  mind.  No,  I  will  keep  faith  with  you 
both,  and  not  place  my  truth  at  the  mercy  of  any  human 
being,  nor  of  any  circumstance.  If  that  is  all,  please 
permit  me  to  retire.  The  less  a  young  lady  of  my  age 
thinks  or  talks  about  the  other  sex,  the  more  time  she 
has  for  her  books  and  her  needle."  And  having  delivered 
this  precious  sentence  with  a  deliberate  and  most  deceiv- 
ing imitation  of  the  pedantic  prude,  she  depra-tec^ ;  and, 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  419 

outside  ttie  door,  broke  instantly  into  a  joyous  chuckle 
at  the  expense  of  the  plotters  she  had  left  looking  moon- 
struck in  one  another's  faces. 

If  the  new  allies  had  been  both  Fountain,  the  apple 
of  discord  this  sweet  novice  threw  down  between  them 
would  have  dissolved  the  alliance,  as  the  sly  novice 
meant  it  to  do.  But  while  the  gentleman  went  storming 
about  the  room  ripe  for  civil  war,  the  lady  leaned  back 
in  her  chair  and  laughed  heartily. 

"Come,  Mr.  Fountain,  it  is  no  use  your  being  cross 
with  a  female,  or  she  will  get  the  better  of  you.  She 
has  outwitted  us.  We  took  her  for  a  fool,  and  she  is  a 
clever  girl.  I'll  —  tell  —  you  —  what  —  she  is  a  very 
clever  girl.  Never  mind  that,  she  is  only  a  girl ;  and  if 
you  will  be  ruled  by  me,  her  happiness  shall  be  secured 
in  spite  of  her,  and  she  shall  be  engaged  in  less  than  a 
week." 

Fountain  recognized  his  superior,  and  put  himself 
under  the  lady's  orders  —  in  an  evil  hour  for  Lucy. 

The  poor  girl's  triumph  over  the  forces  was  but 
momentary ;  her  ground  was  not  tenable.  The  person 
promised  can  release  the  person  who  promises  —  volenti 
non  fit  injuria.  Lucy  found  herself  attacked  with  female 
weapons,  that  you  and  I,  sir,  should  laugh  at ;  but  they 
made  her  miserable.  Cold  looks ;  short  answers  ;  solem- 
nity ;  distance ;  hints  at  ingratitude  and  perverseness ; 
kisses  intermitted  all  day,  and  the  parting  one  at  night 
degraded  to  a  dignified  ceremony.  Under  this  impalpa- 
ble persecution,  the  young  thorough-bred  that  had  steered 
the  boat  across  the  breakers  winced  and  pined. 

She  did  not  want  a  husband  or  a  lover,  but  she  could 
not  live  without  being  loved.  She  was  not  sent  into  the 
world  for  that.  She  began  secretly  to  hate  the  two 
gentlemen  that  had  lost  her  her  relations'  affection,  and 
she  looked  round  to  see  how  she  could  get  rid  of  them 


420      LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

without  giving  fresh  offence  to  her  dear  aunt  and  uncle. 
If  she  could  only  make  it  their  own  act !  Now,  a  man 
in  such  a  case  inclines  to  give  the  obnoxious  parties  a 
chance  of  showing  themselves  generous  and  delicate ;  he 
would  reveal  the  whole  situation  to  them,  and  indicate 
the  generous  and  manly  course ;  but  your  thorough 
woman  cannot  do  this  :  it  is  physically  as  well  as  morally 
impossible  to  her.  Misogynists  say  it  is  too  wise,  and 
not  cunning  enough.  So  what  does  Miss  Lucy  do  but 
turn  round  and  make  love  to  Captain  Kenealy !  And 
the  cold  virgin  being  at  last  by  irrevocable  fate  driven 
to  love-making,  —  I  will  say  this  for  her, —  she  did  not 
do  it  by  halves.  She  felt  quite  safe  here.  The  good- 
natured,  hollow  captain  was  fortified  against  passion  by 
self-admiration.  She  said  to  herself,  "Now,  here  is  a 
peg  with  a  military  suit  hanging  to  it ;  if  I  can  only  fix 
my  eyes  on  this  piece  of  wood  and  regimentals,  and 
make  warm  love  to  it,  the  love  that  poets  have  dreamed 
and  romances  described,  I  may  surely  hope  to  disgust 
my  two  admirers,  and  then  they  will  abandon  me  and 
despise  me.  Ah !  I  could  love  them  if  they  would  only 
do  that." 

Well,  for  a  young  lady  that  had  never,  to  her  knowl- 
edge, felt  the  tender  passion,  the  imitation  thereof  which 
she  now  favored  that  little  society  with,  was  a  wonder- 
ful piece  of  representation.  Was  Kenealy  absent,  be- 
hold Lucy  uneasy  and  restless ;  was  he  present,  but  at  a 
distance,  her  eye  demurely  devoured  him.  Was  he  near 
her,  she  wooed  him  with  such  a  godlike  mixture  of  fire, 
of  tenderness,  of  flattery,  of  tact;  she  did  so  serpen- 
tinely  approach  and  coil  round  the  soldier  and  his  mental 
cavity,  that  all  the  males  in  creation  should  have  been 
permitted  to  defile  past  (like  the  beasts  going  into  the 
ark),  and  view  this  sweet  picture  a  moment,  and  infer 
how  woman  would  be  wooed,  —  and  then  go  and  do  it. 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  421 

Effect  —  Talboys  and  Hardie  —  mortified  to  the  heart's 
core  :  thought  they  had  altogether  mistaken  her  charac- 
ter.    "  She  is  a  lovesick  fool." 

On  Bazalgette  :  ''  Ass  !  Dodd  was  worth  a  hundred  of 
him  ! " 

On  Kenealy  :  made  him  twirl  his  mustache. 

On  Fountain  :  filled  him  with  dismay. 

There  remained  only  one  to  be  hoodwinked. 

SCENA. 

A  letter  is  brought  in  and  handed  to  Captain  Kenealy. 
He  reads  it  and  looks  a  little,  a  very  little,  vexed.  No- 
body else  notices  it. 

Lucy.  "  What  is  the  matter  ?  Oh !  what  has  oc  • 
curred  ?  " 

Kenealy.     "Nothing  particulaa." 

Lucy.  "  Don't  deceive  us :  it  is  an  order  for  you  to 
join  the  horrid  army."  (Clasps  her  hands.)  "  You  are 
going  to  leave  us." 

Keyiealy.  "  No ;  it  is  from  my  tailaa.  He  waunts  to 
be  paed."     (Glares  astonished.) 

Lucy.  "Pay  the  creature,  and  never  more  employ 
liim." 

Kenealy.  "  Can't :  haven't  got  the  money.  Uncle 
won't  daie.  The  beggaa  knows  I  can't  pay  him.  That  is 
the  only  reason  why  he  duns." 

Lucy.  "  He  knows  it :  then  what  business  has  he  to 
annoy  you  thus  ?  Take  my  advice.  Eeturn  no  reply. 
That  is  not  courteous.  But  when  the  sole  motive  of  an 
application  is  impertinence,  silent  contempt  is  the  course 
best  befitting  your  dignity." 

Kenealy  (twirling  his  mustache).  "Dem  the  fellaa. 
Shan't  take  any  notice  of  him." 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  (to  Lucy  in  passing).  "  Do  you  think 
we  are  all  fools  ?  " 


422  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

Ibi  omnis  effusus  amor :  for  La  Bazalgette  undeceived 
her  ally  and  Mr.  Hardie,  and  the  screw  was  put  harder 
still  on  poor  Lucy.  She  Avas  no  longer  treated  like  an 
equal,  but  made  for  the  first  time  to  feel  that  her  uncle 
and  aunt  were  her  elders  and  superiors,  and  that  she  was 
in  revolt.  All  external  signs  of  affection  were  with- 
drawn ;  and  this  was  like  docking  a  strawberry  of  its 
water.  A  young  girl  may  have  flashes  of  spirit,  heroism 
even,  but  her  mind  is  never  steel  from  top  to  toe :  it  is 
sure  to  be  Avax  in  more  places  than  one. 

"  Nobody  loves  me  now  that  poor  JSIr.  Dodd  is  gone," 
sighed  Lucy.  "  Nobody  ever  will  love  me,  unless  I  con- 
sent to  sacrifice  myself.  Well,  why  not  ?  I  shall  never 
love  any  gentleman  as  others  of  my  sex  can  love.  I  will 
go  and  see  Mrs.  Wilson." 

So  she  ordered  out  her  captain,  and  rode  to  Mrs.  Wil- 
son, and  made  her  captain  hold  her  pony  while  she  went 
in.  Mrs.  Wilson  received  her  with  a  tenor  scream  of 
delight,  that  revived  Lucy's  heart  to  hear ;  and  then  it 
was  nothing  but  one  broad  gush  of  hilarity  and  cor- 
diality :  showed  her  the  house,  showed  her  the  cows, 
showed  her  the  parlor  at  last,  and  made  her  sit  down. 

"  Come,  set  ye  down,  set  ye  down,  and  let  me  have  a 
downright  good  look  at  ye.  It  is  not  often  I  clap  eyes 
on  ye,  or  on  anything  like  ye,  for  that  matter.  Aren't 
ye  well,  my  dear  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes." 

"  Are  ye  sure  ?  Haven't  ye  ailed  anything  since  I 
saw  ye  up  at  the  house  ?  " 

"  No,  dear  nurse." 

"  Then  you  are  in  care.  Bless  you  !  it  is  not  the  same 
face :  to  a  stranger,  belike,  but  not  to  the  one  that 
suckled  you.  Why,  there  is  next  door  to  a  wrinkle  on 
your  pretty  brow,  and  a  little  hollow  under  your  eye, 
and  your  face  is  drawn  like,  and  not   half  the  color. 


LOYE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  423 

You  are  in  trouble  or  grief  of  some  sort,  Miss  Lucy  ;  and 
■who  knows  ?  mayhap  you  be  come  to  tell  it  your  poor 
old  nurse.  You  might  go  to  a  worse  part :  ay !  what 
touches  you  will  touch  me,  my  nursling  dear  ;  all  one  as 
if  it  was  your  own  mother." 

"  Ah  !  you  love  me,"  cried  Lucy.  "  I  don't  know  why 
you  love  me  so ;  I  have  not  deserved  it  of  you,  as  I  have 
of  others  that  look  coldly  on  me.  Yes,  you  love  me,  or 
you  would  not  read  my  face  like  this.  It  is  true  ;  I  am 
a  little  —  oh,  nurse,  I  am  so  unhappy  !  "  And  in  a 
moment  she  was  weeping  and  sobbing  in  Mrs.  Wilson's 
arms. 

The  amazon  sat  down  with  her,  and  rocked  to  and  fro 
with  her  as  if  she  was  still  a  child.  "  Don't  check  it, 
my  lamb,"  said  she ;  "  have  a  good  cry ;  never  drive  a 
cry  back  on  your  heart."  And  so  Lucy  sobbed  and 
sobbed,  and  Mrs.  Wilson  rocked  her. 

When  she  had  done  sobbing  she  put  up  a  grateful 
face  and  kissed  Mrs.  Wilson.  But  the  good  woman 
would  not  let  her  go :  she  still  rocked  with  her,  and  said, 
"  Ay,  ay !  it  wasn't  for  nothing  I  was  drawed  so  to  go  to 
your  house  that  day.  I  didn't  know  you  were  there  ; 
but  I  was  drawed.  I  was  wanted.  Tell  me  all,  my 
lamb ;  never  keep  grief  on  your  heart ;  give  it  a  vent ; 
put  a  part  on't  on  me  ;  I  do  claim  it :  you  will  see  how 
much  lighter  your  heart  will  feel.     Is  it  a  young  man  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  no  !  I  hate  young  men :  I  wish  there  were 
no  such  things.  But  for  them  no  dissension  could  ever 
have  entered  the  house.  My  uncle  and  aunt  both  loved 
me  once,  and  oh  !  they  were  so  kind  to  me.  Yes  ;  since 
you  permit  me,  I  will  tell  you  all." 

And  she  told  her  a  part. 

She  told  her  the  whole  Talboys  and  Hardie  part. 

Mrs.  Wilson  took  a  broad  and  somewhat  vulgar  view 
£f  the  distress. 


424  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Why,  Miss  Lucy,"  said  slie,  "  if  that  is  all,  you  can 
soon  sew  up  their  stockings.  You  don't  depend  on  them 
any  ways  :  you  are  a  young  lady  of  property." 

«  Oh,  am  I  ?  " 

"  Sure.  I  have  heard  your  dear  mother  say  often  as 
all  her  money  was  settled  on  you  by  deed.  Why,  you 
must  be  of  age,  Miss  Lucy,  or  near  it." 

''  The  day  after  to-morrow,  nurse." 

"  There,  now :  I  knew  your  birthday  could  not  be  far 
off.  Well,  then,  you  must  wait  till  you  are  of  age,  and 
then  if  they  torment  you,  or  put  on  you, '  good-morning,' 
says  you  ;  '  if  we  can't  agree  together,  let's  agree  to  part,' 
says  you." 

"  What !  leave  my  relations  ?  " 

"  It  is  their  own  faults.  Good  friends  before  bad  kin- 
dred !  They  only  want  to  make  a  handle  of  you  to  get 
'em  rich  son-in-laws.  You  pluck  up  a  sperrit.  Miss  Lucy. 
There's  no  getting  through  the  world  without  a  bit  of  a 
sperrit.  You'll  get  put  upon  at  every  turn  else  ;  and  if 
they  don't  vally  you  in  that  house,  why,  off  to  another  : 
y'ain't  chained  to  their  door,  I  do  suppose." 

"But,  nurse,  a  young  lady  cannot  live  by  herself:  there 
is  no  instance  of  it." 

"  All  wisdom  had  a  beginning.  '  Oh !  shan't  I  spoil 
the  pudding  once  I  cut  it  ? '  quoth  Jack's  wife." 

*'  What  would  people  say  ?  " 

"  What  could  they  say  ?  You  come  to  me,  which  I 
am  all  the  mother  you  have  got  left  upon  earth;  and 
what  scandal  could  they  make  out  of  that,  I  should  like 
to  know  ?  Let  them  try  it.  But  don't  let  me  catch  it 
atween  their  lips,  or  down  they  do  go  on  the  bare  ground, 
and  their  caps  in  pieces  to  the  winds  of  heaven."  And 
she  flourished  her  hand  and  a  massive  arm  with  a  gest- 
\ire  free,  inspired,  and  formidable. 

"  Ah,  nurse !  with  you  I  should  indeed  feel  safe  from 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  425 

every  ill.  But  for  all  that  I  shall  never  go  beyond  the 
usages  of  society.     I  shall  never  leave  my  aunt's  house." 

"  I  don't  say  as  you  will.  But  I  shall  get  your  room 
ready  this  afternoon,  and  no  later." 

"  No,  nurse,  you  must  not  do  that." 

"Tell  ee  I  shall.  Then,  whether  you  come  or  not, 
there  'tis.  And  when  they  put  on  you,  you  have  no  call 
to  fret.  Says  you, '  There's  my  room  a-waiting,  and  like- 
wise my  welcome,  too,  at  Dame  Wilson's :  I  don't  need 
to  stand  no  more  nonsense  here  than  I  do  choose,'  sa-ys 
you.  Dear  heart !  even  a  little  foolish  simple  thought 
like  that  will  help  keep  your  sperrit  up.  You'll  see 
else ;  you'll  see." 

"  Oh,  nurse,  how  wise  you  are !  You  know  human 
nature." 

"  Well,  I  am  older  than  you,  miss,  a  precious  sight ; 
and  if  I  hadn't  got  one  eye  open  at  this  time  of  day, 
why,  when  should  I,  you  know  ?  " 

After  this,  a  little  home-made  wine  forcibly  adminis- 
tered, and  then  much  kissing,  and  Lucy  rode  away  re- 
vivified and  cheered,  and  quite  another  girl.  Her  spirits 
rose  so  that  she  proposed  to  Kenealy  to  extend  their 

ride  by  crossing  the  country  to .    She  wanted  to  buy 

some  gloves. 

"  Yaas,"  said  the  assenter ;  and  off  they  cantered. 

In  the  glove-shop  whom  should  Lucy  find  but  Eve 
Dodd !  She  held  out  her  hand,  but  Eve  affected  not  to 
observe,  and  bowed  distantly.  Lucy  would  not  take  the 
hint :  after  a  pause  she  said,  — 

"  Have  you  any  news  of  Mr.  Dodd  ?  " 

"  I  have,"  was  the  stiff  reply. 

"  He  left  us  without  even  saying  good-by." 

"Did  he?" 

"  Yes,  after  saving  all  our  lives.  Need  I  say  that  we 
are  anxious,  in  our  turn,  to  hear  of  his  safety  ?     It  was 


426  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

still  very  tempestuous  when  he  left  us  to  catch  the  great 
ship,  and  he  was  in  an  open  boat." 

"  My  brother  is  alive,  Miss  Fountain,  if  that  is  what 
you  wish  to  know." 

"  Alive  ?  Is  he  not  well  ?  Has  he  met  with  any 
accident  ?  any  misfortune  ?  Is  he  in  the  East  India- 
man  ?     Has  he  written  to  you  ?  " 

"  You  are  very  curious.  It  is  rather  late  in  the  day. 
But  if  I  am  to  speak  about  my  brother,  it  must  be 
at  home,  and  not  in  an  open  shop.  I  can't  trust  my 
feelings." 

"  Are  you  going  home.  Miss  Dodd  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"Shall  I  come  with  you  ?  " 

"  If  you  like.     It  is  close  by." 

Lucy's  heart  quaked.  Eve  was  so  stern,  and  her  eyes 
like  basilisks'. 

"  Sit  down,  Miss  Fountain,  and  I  will  tell  you  what 
you  have  done  for  my  brother.  I  did  not  court  this,  you 
know.  I  would  have  avoided  your  eye  if  I  could ;  it  is 
your  doing."  — 

"Yes,  Miss  Dodd,"  faltered  Lucy,  "and  I  should  do  it 
again.  I  have  a  right  to  inquire  after  his  welfare,  who 
saved  my  life." 

"Well,  then.  Miss  Fountain,  his  saving  your  life  has 
lost  him  his  ship,  and  ruined  him  for  life." 

"Oh!" 

"  He  came  in  sight  of  the  ship,  but  the  captain,  that 
was  jealous  of  him  like  all  the  rest,  made  all  sail,  and 
ran  from  him.  He  chased  her,  and  often  was  near  catch- 
ing her,  but  she  got  clear  out  of  the  Channel,  and  my 
poor  David  had  to  come  back  disgraced,  ruined  for  life, 
and  broken-hearted.  The  Company  will  never  forgive 
him  for  deserting  his  ship.  His  career  is  blighted,  and 
all  for  one  that  never  cared  a  straw  for  him.     Oh,  Miss 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      427 

Fountain,  it  was  an  evil  day  for  my  poor  brother  when 
first  he  saw  your  face  ! "  Eve  would  have  said  more,  for 
her  heart  was  burning  with  wrath  and  bitterness,  but  she 
was  interrupted. 

Lucy  raised  both  her  hands  to  heaven,  and  then,  bow- 
ing her  head,  wept  tenderly  and  humbly. 

A  woman's  tears  do  not  always  affect  another  woman ; 
but  one  reason  is,  they  are  very,  very  often  no  sign  of 
grief  or  of  any  worthy  feeling.  The  sex,  accustomed 
to  read  the  nicer  shades  of  emotion,  distinguishes  tears 
of  pique,  tears  of  disappointment,  tears  of  spite,  tears 
various,  from  tears  of  grief.  But  Lucy's  was  a  burst  of 
regret  so  sincere,  of  sorrow  and  pity  so  tender  and 
innocent,  that  it  fell  on  Eve's  hot  heart  like  the  dew. 

"  Ah,  well ! "  she  cried,  "  it  was  to  be,  it  was  to  be. 
And  I  suppose  I  oughtn't  to  blame  you.  But  all  he  does 
for  you  tells  against  himself,  and  that  does  seem  hard ; 
it  isn't  as  if  you  and  he  were  anything  to  one  another, 
then  1  shouldn't  grudge  it  so  much.  He  has  lost  his 
character  as  a  seaman." 

"Oh,  dear!" 

"He  valued  it  a  deal  more  than  his  life.  He  was 
always  ready  to  throw  that  away  for  you  or  anybody 
else.     He  has  lost  his  standing  in  the  service.'" 

"Oh!" 

"  You  see  he  has  no  interest,  like  some  of  them.  He 
only  got  on  by  being  better  and  cleverer  than  all  the 
rest.  So  the  Company  won't  listen  to  any  excuses  from 
him,  and,  indeed,  he  is  too  proud  to  make  them.  He 
will  never  be  captain  of  a  ship  now.  What  do  I  say  ? 
captain  of  a  ship  ?  Will  he  ever  leave  the  bed  of  sick- 
ness he  lies  on  ?  " 

"  The  bed  of  sickness  !  Is  he  ill  ?  Oh,  what  have  I 
done  "  " 

"  Is  he  iU  ?     What,  do  you  think  my  brother  is  made 


428  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

of  iron  ?  Out  all  night  with  you,  then  off,  with  scarce  a 
wink  of  sleep ;  then  two  days  and  two  nights  chasing 
the  Combermere,  sometimes  gaining,  sometimes  losing, 
and  his  credit  and  his  good  name  hanging  on  it ;  then  to 
beat  back  against  wind,  heart-broken,  and  no  food  on 
board." 

<'  Oh,  it  is  too  horrible  !  " 

"  He  staggered  in  to  me  white  as  a  ghost.  I  got  him 
to  bed.  He  was  in  a  burning  fever.  In  the  night  he 
was  light-headed,  and  all  his  talk  was  about  you.  He 
kept  fretting  lest  you  should  not  have  got  safe  home. 
It  is  always  so.  We  care  the  most  for  those  that  care 
the  least  for  us." 

"Is  he  in  the  Indiaman  ?  " 

"No,  Miss  Fountain,  he  is  not  in  the  Indiaman,"  cried 
Eve,  her  wrath  suddenly  rising  again.  "  He  lies  there. 
Miss  Fountain,  in  that  room,  at  death's  door,  and  you  to 
thank  for  it." 

At  this  stab  Lucy  uttered  a  cry  like  a  wounded  deer. 
But  this  cry  was  followed  immediately  by  one  of  terror. 
The  door  opened  suddenly,  and  there  stood  David  Dodd, 
looking  as  white  as  his  sister  had  said,  but  as  usual  not 
in  the  humor  to  succumb.  "  Me  at  death's  port,  did  you 
say  ? "  cried  he,  in  a  loud  tone  of  cheerful  defiance. 
"  Tell  that  to  the  marines  ! " 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  429 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

"I  HEARD  your  voice,  Miss  Lucy.  I  -would  know  it 
among  a  million,  so  I  rigged  myself  directly.  Why, 
what  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"Oh,  Mr.  Dodd,"  sobbed  Lucy,  "she  has  told  me  all 
you  have  gone  through,  and  I  am  the  wicked,  wicked 
cause ! " 

David  groaned.  "  If  I  didn't  think  as  much.  I  heard 
the  mill  going.  —  Ah,  Eve,  my  girl,  your  jawing-tackle 
is  too  well  hung.  —  Eve  is  a  good  sister  to  me,  Miss  Lucy, 
and,  where  I  am  concerned,  let  her  alone  for  making  a 
mountain  out  of  a  mole-hill.  If  you  believe  all  she  says, 
you  are  to  blame.  The  thing  that  went  to  my  heart  was 
to  see  my  skipper  run  out  his  stunsel  booms  the  moment 
he  saw  me  overhauling  him ;  it  was  a  dirty  action,  and 
him  an  old  ship-mate.  I  am  glad  now  I  couldn't  catch 
her,  for,  if  I  had,  my  foot  would  not  have  been  on  the 
deck  two  seconds  before  his  carcass  would  have  been  in 
the  Channel.  —  And  pray.  Eve,  what  has  Miss  Fountain 
got  to  do  with  that  ?  the  dirty  lubber  wasn't  bred  at  her 
school,  or  he  would  not  have  served  an  old  messmate  so. 
Belay  all  that,  and  let's  hear  something  worth  hearing.  — 
Now,  Miss  Lucy,  you  tell  me.  —  0  Lord,  Eve,  I  say,  isn't 
the  thundering  old  dingy  room  bright  now  ?  —  You  spin 
me  your  own  yarn,  if  you  will  be  so  good.  Here  you  are 
safe  and  sound,  the  Lord  be  praised !  But  I  left  you 
under  the  lee  of  that  thundering  island.  Wasn't  very 
polite,  was  it  ?  but  you  will  excuse,  won't  you  ?  Duty, 
you  know;  a  seaman  must  leave  his  pleasure  for  his 
duty.     Tell  me,  now,  how  did  you  come  on  ?     Was  the 


430  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

vessel  comfortable  ?  You  would  not  sail  till  the  wind 
fell.  Had  you  a  good  voyage  ?  A  tiresome  one,  I  am 
afraid.  The  sloop  wasn't  built  for  fast  sailing.  When 
did  you  land  ?  " 

To  this  lire  of  eager  qu.estions,  Lucy  was  in  no  state 
to  answer.  "  Oh,  no,  Mr.  Dodd ! "  she  cried,  "  I  can't.  I 
am  choking.  —  Yes,  Miss  Dodd,  I  am  the  heartless,  un- 
feeling girl  you  think  me."  Then  with  a  sudden  dart, 
she  took  David's  hand  and  kissed  it,  and  both  her  hands 
hiding  her  blushing  face,  she  fled,  and  a  single  sob  she 
let  fall  at  the  door  was  the  last  of  her.  So  sudden  was 
her  exit,  it  left  both  brother  and  sister  stupefied. 

"  Eve,  she  is  offended,"  said  David,  with  dismay. 

"  What  if  she  is  ?  "  retorted  Eve ;  "  and  —  no,  she  is 
not  offended ;  but  I  have  made  her  feel  at  last,  and  a 
good  job  too.  Why  should  she  escape  ?  she  has  done  all 
the  mischief.     Come,  you  go  to  bed." 

"  Not  I ;  I  have  been  long  enough  on  my  beam-ends. 
And  I  have  heard  her  voice,  and  I  have  seen  her  face^ 
and  they  have  put  life  into  me.  I  shall  cruise  about  the 
port.  I  have  gone  to  leeward  of  John  Company's  favor ; 
but  there  are  plenty  of  coasting  vessels.  I  may  get  the 
command  of  one.  I'll  try.  A  seaman  never  strikes  his 
flag  while  there's  a  shot  in  the  locker." 

"Here,  put  me  up,  Captain  Kenealy.  Oh,  do  pray 
make  haste;  don't  dawdle  so!"  Off  cantered  Lucy,  and 
fanned  her  pony  along  without  mercy.  At  the  door  of 
the  house  she  jumped  off  without  assistance,  and  ran  to 
Mr.  Bazalgette's  study  and  knocked  hastily ;  and  that 
gentleman  was  not  a  little  surprised  when  this  unusual 
visitor  came  to  his  side  with  some  signs  of  awe  at  having 
penetrated  his  sanctum,  but  evidently  driven  by  an  over- 
powering excitement.  "  Oh,  Uncle  Bazalgette !  Oh,  Uncle 
Bazalgette ! " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  431 

"Why,  what  is  the  matter?  Why,  the  child  is  ill. 
Don't  gasp  like  that,  Lucy.  Come,  pluck  up  courage, 
I  am  sure  to  be  on  your  side,  you  know.  What  is 
it?" 

"  Uncle,  you  are  always  so  kind  to  me  !  you  know  you 
are." 

"Oh,  am  I  ?     Noble  old  fellow  ! " 

"  Oh,  don't  make  me  laugh  !  Ha !  ha !  oh  !  oh  !  oh ! 
ha!  oh!" 

"  Confound  it !  I  have  sent  her  into  hysterics  ;  no, 
she  is  coming  round.  Ten  thousand  million  plagues,  has 
anybody  been  insulting  the  child  in  my  house  ?  They 
have.     My  wife,  for  a  guinea." 

"  No  !  no !  no  !     It  is  about  Mr.  Dodd." 

"Mr.  Dodd?  oho!" 

"  I  have  ruined  him." 

"  How  have  you  managed  that,  my  dear  ?  " 

Then  Lucy,  all  in  a  flutter,  told  Mr.  Bazalgette  what 
the  reader  has  just  learned. 

He  looked  grave.  "Lucy,"  said  he,  "be  frank  with 
me.     Is  not  Mr.  Dodd  in  love  with  you  ?  " 

"I  will  be  frank  with  you,  dear  uncle,  because  you  are 
frank.  Poor  Mr.  Dodd  did  love  me  once.  But  I  refused 
him,  and  so  his  good-sense  and  manliness  cured  him 
directly." 

"  And  now  that  he  no  longer  loves  you,  you  love  him. 
That  is  so  like  you  girls." 

"  Oh,  no,  uncle,  how  ridiculous  !  If  I  loved  Mr.  Dodd 
I  could  repair  the  cruel  injuries  I  have  done  him  with  a 
single  word.  I  have  only  to  recall  my  refusal,  and  he  — 
But  I  do  not  love  Mr.  Dodd.  Esteem  him  I  do,  and  he 
has  saved  my  life ;  and  is  he  to  lose  his  health  and  his 
character  and  his  means  of  honorable  ambition  for  that  ? 
Do  you  not  see  how  shocking  this  is,  and  how  galling  to 
my  pride  ?     Yes,  uncle,  I  have  been  insulted.     His  sister 


432  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

told  me  to  my  face  it  was  an  evil  day  for  him  when  he 
and  I  first  met.     That  was  at  Uncle  Fountain's." 

"  Well,  and  what  am  I  to  do,  Lucy  ?  " 

"  Dear  uncle,  what  I  thought  was,  if  you  would  be  so 
kind  as  to  use  your  influence  with  the  Company  in  his 
favor :  tell  them  that  if  he  did  miss  his  ship,  it  was  not 
by  a  fault,  but  by  a  noble  virtue ;  tell  them  that  it  was 
to  save  a  fellow-creature's  life,  a  young  lady's  life,  one 
that  did  not  deserve  it  from  him :  your  own  niece's ; 
tell  them  it  is  not  for  your  honor  that  he  should  be 
disgraced.  Oh,  uncle,  you  know  what  to  say  so  much 
better  than  I  do." 

Bazalgette  grinned,  and  straightway  resolved  to  perpe- 
trate a  practical  joke,  and  a  very  innocent  one.  "Well," 
said  he,  *'  the  best  way  I  can  think  of  to  meet  your  views 
will  be,  I  think,  to  get  him  appointed  to  the  new  ship 
the  Company  is  building." 

Lucy  opened  her  eyes,  and  the  blood  rushed  to  her 
cheek.  "  Oh,  uncle,  do  I  hear  aright  ?  a  ship  ?  are  you 
so  powerful  ?  are  you  so  kind  ?  do  you  love  your  poor 
niece  so  well  as  all  this  ?     Oh,  Uncle  Bazalgette  ! " 

"There  is  no  end  to  my  power,"  said  the  old  man, 
solemnly ;  "  no  limit  to  my  goodness,  no  bounds  to  my 
love  for  my  poor  niece.  Are  you  in  a  hurry,  my  poor 
niece  ?  shall  we  have  his  commission  down  to-morrow, 
or  wait  a  month  ?  " 

"  To-morrow  ?  is  it  possible  ?  Oh,  yes.  I  count  the 
minutes  till  I  say  to  his  sister,  'There,  Miss  Dodd,  I 
have  friends  who  value  me  too  highly  to  let  me  lie  under 
these  galling  obligations.'  Dear,  dear  uncle,  I  don't  mind 
being  under  them  to  you,  because  I  love  you  "  (kisses). 

"And  not  Mr.  Dodd?" 

"No,  dear.  And  that  is  the  reason  I  would  rather 
give  him  a  ship,  than  —  the  only  other  thing  that  would 
make  him  happy.     And  really,  but  for  your  goodness,  I 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  433 

should  have  been  tempted  to  —  ha!  ha!  Oh  !  I  am  so 
happy,  now.  No ;  much  as  I  admire  my  preserver's 
courage  and  delicacy,  and  unselfishness,  and  goodness, 
I  don't  love  him ;  so  but  for  this  he  must  have  been 
unhappy  for  life :  and  then  I  should  have  been  miserable 
forever." 

"  Perfectly  clear  and  satisfactory,  my  dear.  Now,  if 
the  commission  is  to  be  down  to-morrow,  you  must  not 
stay  here,  because  I  have  other  letters  to  write  to  go  by 
the  same  courier  that  takes  my  application  for  the  ship." 

"  And  do  you  really  think  I  will  go  till  I  have  kissed 
you,  Uncle  Bazalgette  ?  " 

''  On  a  subject  so  important,  I  hardly  venture  to  give 
an  opin —  Hallo !  kissing,  indeed !  Why,  it  is  like  a 
young  wolf  flying  at  horse-flesh." 

"  Then  that  will  teach  you  not  to  be  kinder  to  me  than 
anybody  else  is." 

Lucy  ran  out  radiant  and  into  the  garden.  Here  she 
encountered  Kenealy,  and  coming  on  him  with  a  blaze 
of  beauty  and  triumph,  fired  a  resolution  that  had  smoul- 
dered in  him  a  day  or  two. 

He  twirled  his  mustache,  and  popped  briefly. 

28 


434  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

After  the  first  start  of  rueful  astonishment,  the  indig- 
nation of  the  just  fired  Lucy's  eyes. 

She  scolded  him  well. 

"  Was  this  his  return  for  all  her  late  kindness  ?  " 

She  hinted  broadly  at  the  viper  of  -iEsop,  and  indi- 
cated more  faintly  an  animal,  that  when  one  bestows  the 
choicest  favors  on  it,  turns  and  rends  one.  Then  becom- 
ing suddenly  just  to  the  brute  creation,  she  said,  "No, 
it  is  only  your  abominable  sex  that  would  behave  so 
perversely,  so  ungratefully." 

''  Don't  understand,"  drawled  Kenealy ;  "  I  thought 
you  would  laike  it." 

"  Well,  you  see,  I  don't  laike  it." 

"  You  seemed  to  be  getting  rather  spooney  on  me," 

"  Spooney !  what  is  that  ?  one  of  your  mess-room 
terms,  I  suppose." 

"  Yaas  ;  so  I  thought  you  waunted  me  to  paup." 

"Captain  Kenealy,  this  subterfuge  is  unworthy  of 
you.  You  know  perfectly  well  why  I  distinguished 
you:  others  pestered  me  with  their  attachments  and 
nonsense,  and  you  spared  me  that  annoyance  :  in  return, 
I  did  all  in  my  power  to  show  you  the  grateful  friend- 
ship I  thought  you  worthy  of.  But  you  have  broken 
faith,  you  have  violated  the  clear  though  tacit  under- 
standing that  subsisted  between  us,  and  I  am  very 
angry  with  you.  I  have  some  little  influence  left  with 
my  aunt,  sir,  and  unless  I  am  much  mistaken,  you  will 
shortly  rejoin  the  army,  sir." 

"  What  a  boa !  what  a  dem-d  boa ! " 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  435 

"And  don't  swear;  that  is  another  foolish  custom 
you  gentlemen  have :  it  is  almost  as  foolish  as  the 
other.  Yes,  I'll  tell  my  aunt  of  you,  and  then  you  will 
see." 

"  What  a  boa !     How  horrid  spaiteful  you  are  ! " 

"Well,  I  am  rather  vindictive.  But  my  aunt  is  ten 
times  worse,  as  her  deserter  shall  find,  —  unless  "  — 

"  Unless  whawt  ?  " 

"  Unless  you  beg  my  pardon  directly." 

And  at  this  part  of  the  conversation  Lucy  was  fain  to 
turn  her  head  away,  for  she  found  it  getting  difficult  to 
maintain  that  severe  countenance  which  she  thought 
necessary  to  clothe  her  words  with  terror,  and  subjugate 
the  gallant  captain. 

"Well,  then,  I  apolojaize,"  said  Kenealy. 

"  And  I  accept  your  apology,  and  don't  do  it  again." 

"  I  won't,  pon  honaa.  Look  heaa ;  I  swear  I  didn't 
mean  to  affront  yah ;  I  don't  waunt  yah  to  mayrry  me ; 
I  only  poposed  out  of  civility." 

"Come,  then,  it  was  not  so  black  as  it  appeared. 
Courtesy  is  a  good  thing :  and  if  you  thought  that,  after 
staying  a  month  in  a  house,  you  were  bound  by  etiquette 
to  propose  to  the  marriageable  part  of  it,  it  is  pardonable, 
only  don't  do  it  again,  jAeaseP 

"  I'll  take  caa  —  I'll  take  caa.  I  say,  your  tempaa  is 
not  —  quite  —  what  those  other  fools  think  it  is  —  no,  by 
Jove ;  "  and  the  captain  glared. 

"Nonsense;  I  am  only  a  little  fiendish  on  this  one 
point.  Well,  then,  steer  clear  of  it,  and  you  will  find 
me  a  good  crechaa  on  every  other." 

Kenealy  vowed  he  would  profit  by  the  advice. 

"  Then,  there  is  my  hand :  we  are  friends  again." 

"  You  won't  tell  your  aunt,  nor  the  other  fellaas  ?  " 

"Captain  Kenealy,  I  am  not  one  of  your  garrison 
ladies :   I  am  a  young  person  who  has  been  educated  5 


436  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

yoiu'  extra  civility  will  never  be  known  to  a  soul ;  and 
you  shall  not  join  the  army  but  as  a  volunteer." 

"  Then  hang  me,  Miss  Fountain,  if  I  wouldn't  be  cut 
in  pieces  to  oblaige  you :  just  you  tray  me  and  you'll 
faind  if  I  am  not  very  braight,  I  am  a  man  of  honah. 
If  those  other  begaas  annoy  you,  jaast  tell  me,  and  I'll 
parade  'em  at  twelve  paces,  dem  me." 

"  I  must  try  and  find  some  less  insane  vent  for  your 
friendly  feelings  ;  and  what  can  I  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  Yah  couldn't  go  on  pretending  to  be  spooney  on  me, 
could  yah  ?  " 

"Oh,  no,  no!     What  for ? " 

"  I  laike  it ;  makes  the  other  begaas  misable." 

"What  worthy  sentiments!  it  is  a  sin  to  balk  them. 
I  am  sure  there  is  no  reason  why  I  should  not  appear  to 
adore  you  in  public,  so  long  as  you  let  me  keep  my  dis- 
tance in  private ;  but  persons  of  my  sex  cannot  do  just 
what  they  would  like.  We  have  feelings  that  pull  us 
this  way  and  that,  and,  after  all  tliis,  I  am  afraid  I  shall 
never  have  the  courage  to  play  those  pranks  again :  and 
that  is  a  pity,  since  it  amused  you,  and  teased  those  that 
tease  me." 

In  short,  the  house  now  contained  two  "  holy  alli- 
ances "  instead  of  one.  Unfortunately  for  Lucy  the  hos- 
tile one  was  by  far  the  stronger  of  the  two ;  and  even 
noAv  it  was  preparing  a  terrible  coup.  This  evening  the 
storm  that  was  preparing  blew  good  to  one  of  a  depressed 
class,  which  cannot  fail  to  gratify  the  just. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette.  "  Jane,  come  to  my  room  a  minute, 
I  have  something  for  you.  Here  is  a  cashmere  gown 
and  cloak;  the  cloak  I  want;  I  can  wear  it  with  any- 
thing; but  you  may  have  the  gown." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  mum,  it  is  beautiful,  and  a'most  as 
good  as  new.  I  am  sure,  mum,  I  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you  for  your  kindness." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,    LOVE  ME  LONG.  437 

"  No,  no,  you  are  a  good  girl,  and  a  sensible  girl.  By- 
the-by,  you  might  give  me  your  opinion  upon  something. 
Does  Miss  Lucy  prefer  any  one  of  our  guests  ?  you  under- 
stand me  ?  " 

"Well,  mum,  it  is  hard  to  say.  Miss  Lucy  is  as  re- 
served as  ever." 

"  Oh,  I  thought  she  might  —  humph  ! " 

"  Ko,  mum,  I  do  assure  you,  not  a  word." 

"  Well,  but  you  are  a  shrewd  girl.  Tell  me  what  you 
think :  now,  for  instance,  suppose  she  was  compelled  to 
choose  between,  say  Mr.  Hardie  and  Mr.  Talboys  ;  which 
would  it  be  ?  " 

"Well,  mum,  if  you  ask  my  opinion,  I  don't  think 
Miss  Lucy  is  the  one  to  marry  a  fool :  and  by  all  ac- 
counts there's  a  deal  more  in  Mr.  Hardies's  head  than 
what  there  isn't  in  Mr.  Talboysese's." 

"  You  are  a  clever  girl.  You  shall  have  the  cloak  as 
well,  and  if  my  niece  marries,  you  shall  remain  in  her 
service  all  the  same." 

"Thank  you  kindly,  mum.  I  don't  desire  no  better 
mistress,  married  or  single ;  and  Mr.  Hardies  is  much 
respected  in  the  town,  and  heaps  o'  money ;  so  miss  and 
me  we  couldn't  do  no  better,  neither  of  us.  Your  serv- 
ant, mum,  and  thanks  you  for  your  bounty  ; "  and  Jane 
courtesied  twice  and  went  off  with  the  spoils. 

In  the  corridor  she  met  old  Fountain.  "  Stop,  Jane," 
said  he,  "I  want  to  speak  to  you." 

"  At  your  service,  sir," 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  want  to  give  you  something  to 
buy  a  new  gown,"  and  he  took  out  a  couple  of  sovereigns. 
"  Where  am  I  to  put  them  ?  in  your  breast  pocket  ?  " 

"Put  them  under  the  cloak,  sir,"  murmured  Jane, 
tenderly  ;  she  loved  sovereigns. 

He  put  his  hand  under  the  heap  of  cashmere,  and  a 
quick  little  claw  hit  the  coins  and  closed  on  them  by 
mighty  instinct. 


438  LOVE   ]ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"Now  I  want  to  ask  your  opinion.  Is  my  niece  in 
love  with  any  one  ?  " 

"  Well,  Mr.  Fountains,  if  she  is,  she  don't  show  it." 

"But  doesn't  she  like  one  man  better  than  another  ?  " 

"  You  may  take  your  oath  of  that  if  we  could  but  get 
to  her  mind." 

"  Which  does  she  like  best,  this  Hardie,  or  Mr.  Tal- 
boys  ?  come,  tell  me,  now." 

"  Well,  sir,  you  know  Mr.  Talboys  is  an  old  acquaint- 
ance, and  like  brother  and  sister  at  Font  Abbey.  I  do 
suppose  she  have  been  a  score  of  times  alone  with  him 
for  one  with  Mr.  Hardies.  That  she  should  take  up 
with  a  stranger  and  jilt  an  old  acquaintance,  now  is  it 
feasible  ? " 

"  Why,  of  course  not.  It  was  a  foolish  question ;  you 
are  a  young  woman  of  sense.  Here's  a  £5  note  for  you ; 
you  must  not  tell  I  spoke  to  you." 

"  Now,  is  it  likely,  sir  ?  My  character  would  be 
broken  forever." 

"  And  you  shall  be  with  my  niece  when  she  is  Mrs. 
Talboys." 

"I  might  do  worse,  sir,  and  so  might  she.  He  is 
respected  far  and  wide,  and  a  grand  house,  and  a  car- 
riage-and-four,  and  everything  to  make  a  lady  comforta- 
ble.    Your  servant,  sir,  and  wishes  you  many  thanks." 

"  And  such  as  Jane  Avas,  all  true  servants  are." 

The  ancients  used  to  bribe  the  oracle  of  Delphi, 
Curious. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  439 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Lucy's  twenty-first  birthday  dawned.  But  it  was  not 
to  her  the  gay  exultant  day  it  is  to  some.  Last  night 
her  uncle  and  aunt  had  gone  a  step  farther,  and,  instead 
of  kissing  her  ceremoniously,  had  evaded  her.  They 
were  drawing  matters  to  a  climax ;  once  of  age,  each 
day  would  make  her  more  independent  in  spirit  as  in 
circumstances.  This  morning  she  hoped  custom  would 
shield  her  from  uukindness  for  one  day  at  least.  But 
no,  they  made  it  clear  there  was  but  one  road  back  to 
their  smiles ;  their  congratulations  at  the  breakfast- 
table  were  cold  and  constrained ;  her  heart  fell ;  and 
long  before  noon  on  her  birthday  she  was  crying.  Thus 
weakened  she  had  to  encounter  a  thoroughly-prepared 
attack.  Mr.  Bazalgette  summoned  her  to  his  study  at 
one  o'clock,  and  there  she  found  him,  and  Mrs.  Bazal- 
gette, and  Mr.  Fountain,  seated  solemnly  in  conclave. 
The  merchant  was  adding  up  figures. 

''  Come  now,  business,"  said  he.  "  Dick  has  added 
them  up ;  his  figures  are  in  that  envelope ;  break  the 
seal  and  open  it,  Lucy.  If  his  total  corresponds  with 
mine,  we  are  right ;  if  not,  I  am  wrong,  and  you  will  all 
have  to  go  over  it  with  me  till  Ave  are  right."  A  general 
groan  followed  this  announcement.  Luckily,  the  sums 
total  corresponded  to  a  fraction. 

Then  Mr.  Bazalgette  made  Lucy  a  little  speech. 

"My  dear,  in  laying  down  that  office,  which  your 
amiable  nature  has  made  so  agreeable,  I  feel  a  natural 
regret  on  your  account,  that  the  property  my  colleague 
there,  and  I,  have  had  to  deal  with  on  your  account,  has 


440  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

not  been  more  iniportant.  However,  as  far  as  it  goes, 
we  have  been  fortunate.  Consols  have  risen  amazingly, 
since  we  took  you  oft"  land,  and  funded  you.  The  rise  in 
value  of  your  little  capital  since  your  mother's  death  is 
calculated  on  this  card.  You  have  also  some  loose  cash, 
which  I  will  hand  over  to  you  immediately.  Let  me 
see,  eleven  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  and  live  shillings. 
Write  your  name  in  full  on  that  paper,  Lucy." 

He  touched  a  bell ;  a  servant  came.  He  wrote  a  line, 
and  folded  it  enclosing  Lucy's  signature. 

"  Let  this  go  to  Mr.  Hardie's  bank  immediately. 
Hardie  will  give  you  three  per  cent,  for  your  money. 
Better  than  nothing.  You  must  have  a  check-book. 
He  sent  me  a  new  one  yesterday.  Here  it  is  :  you  shall 
have  it.  I  wonder  whether  you  know  how  to  draw  a 
check  ?  " 

"  No,  uncle." 

"  Look  here,  then.  You  note  the  particulars  first  on 
this  counterfoil,  which  thus  serves,  in  some  degree,  for 
an  account-book.  In  drawing  the  check,  place  the  sum 
in  letters  close  to  these  printed  words,  and  the  sum  in 
figures  close  to  the  £.  For  want  of  this  precaution  the 
holder  of  the  check  has  been  known  to  turn  a  £10 
check  into  £110." 

"  Oh !  how  wicked ! " 

"No.  Dexterous.  Dexterity  is  the  one  virtue  left  in 
England ;  so  we  must  be  on  our  guard ;  especially  in 
what  we  write  with  our  name  attached." 

"I  must  say,  Mr.  Bazalgette,  you  are  unwise  to  put 
such  a  sum  as  that  into  a  young  girl's  hands." 

"  The  young  girl  has  been  a  woman  an  hour  and  ten 
minutes,  and  come  into  her  property,  movables,  and 
cash,  aforesaid." 

"  If  you  were  her  real  friend,  you  would  take  care  of 
her  money  for  her,  till  she  marries." 


LOVE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  441 

"  The  eighth  commaudment,  my  dear,  the  eighth  com- 
mandment, and  other  primitive  axioms  ;  suimi  cuique, 
and  such  odd  sayings ;  '  Him  as  keeps  what  isn't  his'n, 
soon  or  late  shall  go  to  prison ; '  with  similar  apothegms. 
Total,  let  us  keep  the  British  merchant  and  the  Newgate 
thief  as  distinct  as  the  times  permit.  Fountain  and 
Bazalgette,  account  squared;  books  closed;  and  I'm  off." 

"  Oh,  uncle  !  pray  stay  !  "  said  Lucy.  "  When  you  are 
by  me,  rectitude  and  sense  seem  present  in  person,  and  I 
can  lean  on  them." 

"  Lean  on  yourself ;  the  law  has  cut  your  leadin^f,- 
strings  ;  why  patch  'em  ?  it  has  made  you  a  woman  from 
a  baby  ;  rise  to  your  new  rank.    Rectitude  and  sense  are 

just  as  much  wanted  in  the  town  of ,  where  I  am 

due,  as  they  are  in  this  house.  Besides,  sense  has 
spoken  uninterrupted  for  ten  minutes ;  prodigious  !  so 
now  it  is  nonsense's  turn  for  the  next  ten  hours."  He 
made  for  the  door,  then  suddenly  returning  he  said,  "  I 
will  leave  a  grain  of  sense,  etc.,  behind  me.  What  is 
marriage  ?  Do  you  give  it  up  ?  Marriage  is  a  contract. 
Who  are  the  parties  ?  the  papas  and  mammas,  uncles 
and  aunts  ?  by  George,  you  would  think  so  to  hear  them 
talk.  No,  the  contract  is  between  two  parties,  and  these 
two  only.  It  is  a  printed  contract.  Anybody  can  read 
it,  gratis.  None  but  idiots  sign  a  contract  without  read- 
ing it ;  none  but  knaves  sign  a  contract,  which,  having 
read,  they  find  they  cannot  execute.  Matrimony  is  a 
mercantile  affair ;  very  well,  then,  import  into  it  sound 
mercantile   morality.      Go   to   market ;    sell   well ;    but 

d n  it  all,  deliver  the  merchandise  as  per  sample ; 

viz.,  a  woman  warranted  to  love,  honor,  and  obey  the 
purchaser.  If  you  swiTi.dle  the  other  contracting  party  in 
the  essentials  of  the  contract,  don't  complain  when  you 
are  unhappy.  Are  shufflers  entitled  to  happiness  ?  and 
what  are  those  who  shuffle  and  prevaricate  in  a  church 


442  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

any  better  than  those  who  sliuffle  and  prevaricate  in  a 
counting-honse  ?  "  and  the  brnte  bolted. 

"  My  liusband  is  a  Avorthy  man,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette, 
languidly,  "  and  makes  one  blush  for  him." 

"  Our  good  friend  is  a  humorist,"  replied  Fountain, 
good-humoredly,  "  and  dearly  loves  a  paradox ; "  and 
they  pooh-poohed  him  without  a  particle  of  malice. 

Then  Mrs.  Bazalgette  turned  to  Lucy,  and  hoped  that 
she  did  her  the  justice  to  believe  she  had  none  but 
affectionate  motives  in  wishing  to  see  her  speedily 
established. 

"  Oh,  no,  aunt !  "  said  Lucy.  "■  Why  should  you  wish 
to  part  with  me  ?  I  give  but  little  trouble  in  your  great 
house." 

"  Trouble,  child  ?  you  know  you  are  a  comfort  to  have 
in  any  house." 

This  pleased  Lucy  ;  it  was  the  first  gracious  word  for 
a  long  time.  Having  thus  softened  her,  Mrs.  Bazalgette 
proceeded  to  attack  her  by  all  the  weaknesses  of  her 
sex  and  age,  and  for  a  good  hour  pressed  her  so  hard 
that  the  tears  often  gushed  from  Lucy's  eyes,  over  her 
red  cheeks.  The  girl  was  worn  by  the  length  of  the 
struggle,  and  the  pertinacity  of  the  assault.  She  was  as 
determined  as  ever  to  do  nothing;  but  she  had  no  longer 
the  power  to  resist  in  words.  Seeing  her  reduced  to 
silence,  and  not  exactly  distinguishing  between  impassi- 
bility and  yielding,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  delivered  the  coup- 
de-grace. 

"I  must  now  tell  you  plainly,  Lucy,  that  yovir  char- 
acter is  compromised  by  being  out  all  night  with  persons 
of  the  other  sex.  I  would  have  spared  you  this  ;  but 
your  resistance  compels  those  who  love  you  to  tell  you 
all.  Owing  to  that  unfortunate  trip,  you  are  in  such  a 
situation  that  you  must  marry." 

"  The  world  is  surely  not  so  unjust  as  all  this,"  sighed 
Lucy. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  443 

"  Yoli  don't  know  the  world  as  I  do,"  was  the  reply. 
"And  those  who  live  in  it  cannot  defy  it.  I  tell  you 
plainly,  Lucy,  neither  your  uncle  nor  I  can  keep  you  any 
longer,  except  as  an  engaged  person.  And  even  that  en- 
gagement ought  to  be  a  very  short  one." 

"  What,  aunt  ?  what,  uncle  ?  your  house  is  no  longer 
mine  ?  "  and  she  buried  her  head  upon  the  table. 

"  Well,  Lucy,"  said  Mr.  Fountain,  "  of  course  we  would 
not  have  told  you  this  yesterday.  It  would  have  been 
ungenerous.  But  you  are  now  your  own  mistress ;  you 
are  independent.  Young  persons  in  your  situation  can 
generally  forget  in  a  day  or  two  a  few  years  of  kindness. 
You  have  now  an  opportunity  of  showing  us  whether 
you  are  one  of  that  sort." 

Here  Mrs.  Bazalgette  put  in  her  word. 

"  You  will  not  lack  people  to  encourage  you  in  ingrati- 
tude ;  perhaps  my  husband  himself.  But  if  he  does,  it 
will  make  a  lasting  breach  between  him  and  me,  of 
which  you  will  have  been  the  cause." 

"  Heaven  forbid  ! "  said  Lucy  with  a  shudder.  "  Why 
should  dear  Mr.  Bazalgette  be  drawn  into  my  troubles  ? 
He  is  no  relation  of  mine  ;  only  a  loyal  friend,  whom 
may  God  bless  and  reward  for  his  kindness  to  a  poor 
fatherless,  motherless  girl !  Aunt,  uncle,  if  you  will  let 
me  stay  with  you  I  will  be  more  kind,  more  attentive  to 
you,  than  I  have  been.  Be  persuaded ;  be  advised.  If 
you  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  me,  you  might  miss  me, 
indeed  you  might.     I  know  all  your  little  ways  so  welL" 

"  Lucy,  we  are  not  to  be  tempted  to  do  wrong,"  said 
Mrs.  Bazalgette,  sternly.  "Choose  which  of  these  two 
offers  you  will  accept.  Choose  which  you  please.  If 
you  refuse  both,  you  must  pack  up  your  things,  and  go 
and  live  by  yourself,  or  with  Mr.  Dodd." 

"  Mr.  Dodd  ?  why  is  his  name  introduced  ?  was  it 
necessary  to  insult  me  ?  "  and  her  eyes  flashed. 


444  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  Nobody  wishes  to  insult  you,  Lucy.  And  I  propose, 
madam,  we  give  her  a  day  to  consider." 

"  Thank  you,  uncle." 

"With  all  my  heart;  only,  until  she  decides,  she  must 
excuse  me  if  I  do  not  treat  her  with  the  same  affection 
as  I  used,  and  as  I  hope  to  do  again.  I  am  deeply 
wounded,  and  I  never  co^(l(l  feign." 

"  You  need  not  fear  me,  aunt ;  my  heart  is  turned  to 
ice.  I  shall  never  intriide  that  love  on  which  you  set  no 
value.     May  I  retire  ?  " 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  looked  to  IMr.  Fountain,  and  both 
bowed  acquiescence.  Lucy  went  out  pale,  but  dry-eyed ; 
despair  never  looked  so  lovely,  nor  carried  its  head  more 
proudly. 

"  I  don't  like  it,"  said  Mr.  Fountain ;  "  I  am  afraid  we 
have  driven  the  poor  girl  too  hard." 

"  What  are  you  afraid  of,  pray  ?  " 

"  She  looked  to  me  just  like  a  girl  who  would  go  and 
take  an  ounce  of  laudanum ;  poor  Lucy  !  she  has  been  a 
good  niece  to  me  after  all ; "  and  the  water  stood  in  the 
old  bachelor's  eyes. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  and  said, 
archly,  but  with  a  tone  that  carried  conviction:  "She 
will  take  no  poison.  She  Avill  hate  us  for  an  hour :  then 
she  will  have  a  good  cry :  to-morrow  she  will  come  to 
our  terms  :  and  this  day  next  year  she  will  be  very  much 
obliged  to  us  for  doing  what  all  women  like,  forcing  her 
to  her  good  with  a  little  harshness." 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  445 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Said  Lucy  as  slie  went  from  the  door,  "  Thank  Heaven 
they  have  insulted  me !  " 

This  does  not  sound  logical ;  but  that  is  only  because 
the  logic  is  so  siibtle  and  swift.  She  meant  something 
of  this  kind:  "I  am  of  a  yielding  nature:  I  might  have 
sacrificed  myself  to  retain  their  affection;  but  they 
have  roused  a  vice  of  mine,  my  pride,  against  them,  so 
now  I  shall  be  immovable  in  right,  thanks  to  my  wicked 
pride.  Thank  Heaven  they  have  insulted  me  ! "  She 
then  laid  her  head  upon  the  bed  and  moaned,  for  she  was 
stricken  to  the  heart.  Then  she  rose  and  wrote  a  hasty 
note,  and  putting  it  in  her  bosom,  came  down-stairs  and 
looked  for  Captain  Kenealy.  He  proved  to  be  in  the 
billiard-room,  playing  the  spotted  ball  against  the  plain 
one.  "Oh,  Captain  Kenealy,  I  am  come  to  try  your 
friendship:  you  said  I  might  command  you," 

"  Yaas ! " 

"  Then  ivill  you  mount  my  pony  and  ride  with  this  to 
Mrs.  Wilson,  to  that  farm  where  I  kept  you  waiting  so 
long,  and  you  were  not  angry  as  any  one  else  would  have 
been  ?  " 

"Yaas!" 

"  But  not  a  soul  must  see  it,  or  know  where  you  are 
gone." 

"  All  raight.  Miss  Fountain.  Don't  you  be  f raightened. 
I'm  close  as  the  grave,  and  I'll  be  there  in  less  than  haelf 
an  hour." 

"  Yes :  but  don't  hurt  my  dear  pony  either ;  don't  beat 
him ;  and  above  all,  don't  come  back  without  an  answer." 


446  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"I'll  bring  you  an  answer  in  an  liour  and  twenty 
minutes."  The  captain  looked  at  liis  watcli,  and  went 
out  with  a  smartness  that  contrasted  happily  with  his 
slowness  of  speech. 

Lucy  went  back  to  her  own  room,  and  locked  herself 
in,  and  with  trembling  hands  began  to  pack  up  her 
jewels  and  some  of  her  clothes.  But  when  it  came  to 
this,  wounded  pride  was  sorely  taxed  by  a  host  of 
reminiscences  and  tender  regrets ;  and  every  now  and 
then  the  tears  suddenly  gushed  and  fell  upon  her  poor 
hands,  as  she  put  things  out,  or  patted  them  flat,  to 
wander  in  the  world. 

AVhile  she  is  thus  sorrowfully  employed,  let  me  try 
and  give  an  outline  of  the  feelings  that  had  now  for 
some  time  been  secretly  growing  in  her,  since  without 
their  co-operation  she  would  never  have  been  driven  to 
the  strange  step  she  now  meditated. 

Lucy  was  a  very  unselfish  and  very  intelligent  girl. 
The  first  trait  had  long  blinded  her  to  something ;  the 
second  had  lately  helped  to  open  her  eyes. 

If  ever  you  find  a  person  quick  to  discover  selfishness 
in  others,  be  sure  that  person  is  selfish ;  for  it  is  only  the 
selfish  who  come  into  habitual  collision  with  selfishness,  - 
and  feel  how  sharp-pointed  a  thing  it  is.  When  un- 
selfish meets  selfish,  each  acts  after  his  kind ;  unselfish 
gives  way,  selfish  holds  his  course ;  and  so  neither  is 
thwarted,  and  neither  finds  out  the  other's  character. 

Lucy,  then,  of  herself,  would  never  have  discovered 
her  relatives'  egotism.  But  they  helped  her;  and  she 
was  too  bright  not  to  see  anything  that  was  properly 
pointed  out  to  her. 

When  Fountain  kept  shoAving  and  proving  IVIrs.  Bazal. 
gette's  egotism ;  and  Mrs.  Bazalgette  kept  showing  and 
proving  Mr.  Fountain's  egotism ;  Lucy  ended  by  seeing 
both  their  egotisms  as  clearly  as   either  could  desire; 


LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  447 

and,  as  she  despised  egotism,  she  lost  her  respect  for 
both  these  people,  and  let  them  convince  her  they  were 
both  persons  against  whom  she  must  be  on  her  guard. 

This  was  the  direct  residt  of  their  mines  and  counter- 
mines—  bi;t  not  the  only  result.  It  followed  indirectly, 
but  inevitably,  that  the  present  holy  alliance  failed. 
Lucy  had  not  forgotten  the  past ;  and  to  her  this  seemed 
not  a  holy,  but  an  unholy,  hollow,  and  empty  alliance. 

"  They  hate  one  another,"  said  she ;  "  but  it  seems 
they  hate  me  worse,  since  they  can  hide  their  mutual 
dislike  to  combine  against  poor  me." 

Another  thing;  Lucy  was  one  of  those  women  who 
thirst  for  love,  and  though  not  vain  enough  to  be  always 
showing  they  think  they  ought  to  be  beloved,  have  quite 
secret  amour  proiwe  enough  to  feel  at  the  bottom  of  their 
hearts,  that  they  were  sent  here  to  that  end,  and  that  it 
is  a  folly  and  a  shame  not  to  love  them  more  or  less. 

If  ever  Madame  Ristori  plays  "  Maria  Stuarda  "  within 
a  mile  of  you,  go  and  see  her.  Don't  chatter ;  you  can 
do  that  at  home  :  attend  to  the  scene.  The  worst  play 
ever  played  is  not  so  unimproving  as  chitchat.  Then, 
when  the  scaffold  is  even  now  erected,  and  the  poor 
queen,  pale  and  tearful,  palpitates  in  death's  grasp,  you 
shall  see  her  suddenly  illumined  with  a  strange  joy, 
and  hear  her  say,  with  a  marvellous  burst  of  feminine 
triumph,  — 

"  I  have  been  amata  violto  .'" 

Uttered  under  a  scaffold,  as  the  Italian  utters  it,  this 
line  is  a  revelation  of  womanhood. 

The  English  virgin  of  our  humbler  tale  had  a  soul 
full  of  this  feeling,  only  she  had  never  learned  to  set 
the  love  of  sex  above  other  loves :  but,  mark  you,  for 
that  very  reason,  a  mortal  insult  to  her  heart  from  her 
beloved  relatives  was  as   mortifying,  humiliating,  and 


448  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

unpardonable  as  is,  to  other  liigli-spirited  girls,  an  insult 
from  their  favored  lover. 

What  could  she  do  more  than  she  had  done  to  win 
their  love  ?     No  !  their  hearts  were  inaccessible  to  her. 

"  They  Avish  to  get  rid  of  me.  Well,  they  shall.  They 
refuse  me  their  houses :  well,  I  will  show  them  the  value 
of  their  houses  to  me.  It  was  their  hearts  I  clung  to, 
not  their  houses." 

A  tap  came  to  Lucy's  door. 

"  Who  is  that  ?     I  am  busy." 

"Oh,  miss  !"  said  an  agitated  voice,  "may  I  speak  to 
you  ?  —  the  captain  ! " 

"  What  captain  ?  "  inquired  Lucy,  without  opening 
the  door. 

"  Knealys,  miss." 

"  I  will  come  out  to  you.  Now.  Has  Captain  Kenealy 
returned  already  ?  " 

"  La !  No,  miss.  He  haven't  been  anywhere  as  I 
know  of.  He  had  them  about  him  as  couldn't  spare 
him." 

"  Something  is  the  matter,  Jane.     What  is  it  ?  " 

Jane  lowered  her  voice  mysteriously.  "  Well,  miss, 
the  captain  is  —  in  trouble." 

"  Oh,  dear  !  what  has  happened  ?  " 

"  Well,  the  fact  is,  miss,  the  captain's  —  took." 

" I  cannot  understand  you.     Pray  speak  intelligibly." 

"  Arrested,  miss." 

"  Captain  Kenealy  arrested  !  Oh,  Heaven  !  for  what 
crime  ?  " 

"  La,  miss  !  no  crime  at  all.  Leastways  not  so  consid- 
ered by  the  gentry.  He  is  only  took  in  payment  of  them 
beautiful  reg-mentals.  However,  black  or  red,  he  is 
always  well  put  on ;  I  am  sure  he  looks  just  out  of  a  band- 
box ;  and  I  got  it  all  out  of  one  of  the  men  as  it's  a  army 
tailor,  which  he  wrote  again  and  again,  and  sent  his  bill, 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  449 

and  the  captain  he  took  no  notice ;  then  the  tailor  he 
sent  him  a  writ ;  and  the  captain  he  took  no  notice ; 
then  the  tailor  he  lawed  him  ;  but  the  captain  he  kep'  on 
a-taking  no  more  notice  nor  if  it  was  a  dog  a-barking,  and 
then  a-putting  all  them  ere  barks  one  after  another  in  a 
letter,  and  sending  them  by  the  post.  So  the  end  is,  the 
captain  is  arrested;  and  now  he  behoves  to  attend  a  bit 
to  what  is  a-going  on  around  an'  about  him,  as  the  saying 
is ;  and  so  he  is  waiting  to  pay  you  his  respects,  before 
he  starts  for  Bridewell." 

"  My  fatal  advice  !     I  ruin  all  my  friends." 

"'Keep  dark!'  says  he;  'don't  tell  a  soul,  except 
Miss  Fountain.'  " 

"Where  is  he?     Oh!" 

Jane  offered  to  show  her  that,  and  took  her  to  the 
stable-yard.  Arriving  with  a  face  full  of  tender  pity 
and  concern,  Lucy  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  the 
victim  smoking  cigars  in  the  centre  of  his  smoking 
captors.  The  men  touched  their  hats,  and  Captain 
Kenealy  said,  "  Isn't  it  a  boa.  Miss  Fountain  ?  they 
won't  let  me  do  your  little  commission.  In  London 
they  will  go  anywhere  with  a  fellow." 

"London  ve  knows,"  explained  the  assistant;  "but 
this  here  is  full  of  hins  and  houts  and  folyidge." 

"  Oh,  sir,"  cried  Lucy  to  the  best-dressed  captor, 
"  surely  you  will  not  be  so  cruel  as  to  take  a  gentleman 
like  Captain  Kenealy  to  a  prison  ?  " 

"  Very  sorry,  marm ;  but  we  ave  no  hoption :  takes 
'em  every  day,  don't  we.  Bill  ?  " 

Bill  nodded. 

"But,  sir,  as  it  is  only  for  money,  can  you  not  be 
induced  by  —  by  —  money  "  — 

"  Bill,  lady's  going  to  pay  the  debtancosts.  Show  her 
the  ticket.  Debt  eighty  pund,  costs  seven  pund  eighteen 
six." 

29 


450  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  What !  will  you  liberate  him,  if  I  pay  you  eighty- 
eight  pounds  ?  " 

"  Well,  marm,  to  oblige  you,  we  will ;  won't  we,  Bill  ?  " 
He  winked.     Bill  nodded. 

"  Then  pray  stay  here  a  minute,  and  this  shall  be 
arranged  to  your  entire  satisfaction ; "  and  she  glided 
swiftly  away,  followed  by  Jane,  wriggling. 

"  Quite  the  lady.  Bill." 

"Kevite.  Capt'n  is  in  luck.  Hare  ve  to  be  at  the 
vedding,  capt'n  ?  " 

"  Deni  your  impudence  !     I'll  cross-buttock  yah." 

"  Hold  your  tongue,  Bill  —  queering  a  gent !  Draw  it 
mild,  captain.  Debtancosts  ain't  paid  yet.  Here  they 
come  though." 

Lucy  returned  swiftly,  holding  aloft  a  slip  of  paper. 
"  There,  sir,  that  is  a  check  for  ninety  pounds ;  it  is  the 
same  thing  as  money,  you  are  doubtless  aware."  The 
man  took  it,  and  inspected  it  keenly. 

"Very  sorry,  marm,  but  can't  take  it.  It  is  a  lady's 
check." 

"  What,  is  it  not  written  properly  ?  " 

"  Beautiful,  marm  !  But  when  we  takes  these  beauti- 
ful-wrote  checks  to  the  bank,  the  cry  is  always,  'No 
assets.' " 

"  Bvit  Uncle  Bazalgette  said  everybody  would  give  me 
money  for  it." 

"  What !  is  Mr.  Bazalgette  your  uncle,  marm  ?  Then, 
you  go  to  him,  and  get  his  check  in  place  of  yours,  and 
the  captain  will  be  free  as  the  birds  in  the  hair." 

"  Oh,  thank  you,  sir ! "  cried  Lucy,  and  the  next 
minute  she  was  in  Mr.  Bazalgette's  study.  "  Uncle; 
don't  be  angry  with  me  ;  it  is  for  no  unworthy  purpose  ; 
only,  don't  ask  me :  it  might  mortify  another ;  but 
would  you  give  me  a  check  of  your  own  for  mine  ?  They 
will  not  receive  mine." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE    ME   LONG.  451 

]\[r.  Bazalgette  looked  grave  and  even  sad ;  but  he  sat 
quietly  down  without  a  word,  and  drew  her  a  check, 
taking  hers,  which  he  locked  in  his  desk.  The  tears 
were  in  Lucy's  eyes  at  his  gravity  and  his  delicacy. 
"  Some  day  I  will  tell  you,"  said  she.  "  I  have  nothing 
to  reproach  myself,  indeed,  indeed." 

"  Make  the  rogue,  or  jade,  give  you  a  receipt,"  groaned 
Bazalgette. 

'''All  right,  marm,  this  time.  Captain,  the  world  it's 
hall  before  you  where  to  chewse.  But  this  is  for  ninety, 
marm,"  and  he  put  his  hand  very  slowly  into  his  pocket. 

"  Do  me  the  favor  to  keep  the  rest  for  your  trouble, 
sir." 

"  Trouble's  a  pleasure,  marm.  It  is  not  often  we  gets 
a  tip  for  taking  a  gent.  We  are  funk  shin  hairies  as  is 
not  depreciated,  marm ;  and  the  more  genteel  we  takes 
'em,  the  rougher  they  cuts  ;  and  the  very  women  no  more 
like  you  nor  dark  to  light,  but  flies  at  us  like  ryal  Bengal 
tigers,  through  taking  of  us  for  the  creditors." 

*'  Verehas  ve  hare  honly  servants  of  the  ke  veen,"  sug- 
gested No.  2,  hashing  his  mistress's  English. 

"  Stow  your  gab,  Bill,  and  mizzle  !  Let  the  captain 
thank  the  lady.     Good-day,  marm." 

"  0  my  poor  friend !  what  language  !  and  my  ill  advice 
threw  you  into  their  company." 

Captain  Kenealy  told  her,  in  his  brief  way,  that  the 
circumstance  was  one  of  no  import,  except  in  so  far  as  it 
had  impeded  his  discharge  of  his  duty  to  her.  He  then 
mounted  the  pony  which  had  been  waiting  for  him  more 
than  half  an  hour. 

"But  it  is  five  o'clock,"  said  Lucy:  "you  will  be  too 
late  for  dinner." 

'•  Dinner  be  dem-d,"  drawled  the  man  of  action,  and 
rode  off  like  a  flash. 

"  It  is  to  be,  then,"  said  Lucy,  and  her  heaxt  ebbed. 


452  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

It  liad  ebbed  and  flowed  a  good  many  times  the  last  hour 
or  two. 

Captain  Kenealy  reappeared  in  the  middle  of  dinner. 
Lucy  scanned  his  face,  but  it  was  like  the  outside  of  a 
copy-book,  and  she  was  on  thorns.  Being  too  late,  he 
lost  his  place  near  her  at  dinner,  and  she  could  not 
whisper  to  him.  However,  when  the  ladies  retired,  he 
opened  the  door,  and  Lucy  let  fall  a  word  at  his  feet,  — 
"  Come  up  before  the  rest !  " 

Acting  on  this  order,  Kenealy  came  up,  and  found 
Lucy  playing  sad  tunes  softly  on  the  piano,  and  Mrs. 
Bazalgette  absent.  She  was  trying  something  on  up- 
stairs. He  gave  Lucy  a  note  from  Mrs.  Wilson.  She 
opened  it,  and  the  joyful  color  suffused  her  cheek,  and 
she  held  out  her  hand  to  him ;  but,  as  she  turned  her 
head  away  mighty  prettily  at  the  same  time,  she  did  not 
see  the  captain  was  proffering  her  a  second  document ; 
and  she  was  a  little  surprised  when,  instead  of  a  warm 
grasp,  all  friendship  and  no  love,  a  piece  of  paper  was 
shoved  into  her  delicate  palm.  She  took  it,  looked  first 
at  Kenealy,  then  at  at,  and  was  sore  puzzled. 

The  document  was  in  Kenealy's  handwriting,  and  at 
first  Lucy  thought  it  must  be  intended  as  a  mere  speci- 
men of  calligraphy,  for  not  only  was  it  beautifully 
written,  but  in  letters  of  various  sizes.  There  were 
three  gigantic  vowels,  I  0  U.  There  were  little  wee 
notifications  of  time  and  place,  and  other  particulars  of 
medium  size.  The  general  result  was  that  Henry  Kenealy 
O'd  Lucy  Fountain  ninety  pound  for  value  received  per 
loan.  Lucy  caught  at  the  meaning.  -'But,  my  dear 
friend,"  said  she  innocently,  "  you  mistake.  I  did  not 
lend  it  you;  I  meant  to  give  it  you.  Will  you  not 
accept  it  ?     Are  we  not  friends  ?  " 

"  Much  oblaiged.     Couldn't  do  it.     Dishonable." 

"  Oh,  pray  do  not  let  me  wound  your  pride.     I  know 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  453 

what  it  is  to  liave  one's  pride  wounded  :  call  it  a  loan,  if 
you  wish.    But,  dear  friend,  what  am  I  to  do  witli  this  ?  " 

"  When  you  want  the  money,  order  your  man  of  busi- 
ness to  present  it  to  me,  and,  if  I  don't  pay,  lock  me  up, 
for  I  shall  deserve  it." 

"  I  think  I  understand.  This  is  a  memorandum  —  a 
sort  of  reminder." 

"  Yaas." 

"  Then,  clearly  I  am  not  the  person  to  whom  it  should 
be  given.  No,  if  you  want  to  be  reminded  of  this  mighty 
matter,  put  this  in  your  own  desk.  If  it  gets  into  mine, 
you  will  never  see  it  again.  I  give  you  fair  warning. 
There,  hide  it,  quick ;  here  they  come  ! " 

They  did  come,  all  but  Mr.  Bazalgette,  who  was  at 
work  in  his  study.  IMr.  Talboys  came  up  to  the  piano, 
and  said  gravely,  "  Miss  Fountain,  are  you  aware  of  the 
fate  of  the  lugger,  of  the  boat  we  went  out  in  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  I  am !  I  have  sent  the  poor  widow  some 
clothes  and  a  little  money." 

"I  have  only  just  been  informed  of  it,"  said  Mr. 
Talboys ;  "  and  I  feel  under  considerable  obligations  to 
j\[r.  Dodd." 

"  The  feeling  does  you  credit." 

*'  Should  you  meet  him,  will  you  do  me  the  honor  to 
express  my  gratitude  to  him  ?  " 

"  I  would,  with  pleasure,  Mr.  Talboys ;  but  there  is  no 
chance  whatever  of  my  seeing  Mr.  Dodd.  His  sister  is 
staying  in  Market  Street,  No,  80 ;  and  if  you  would  call 
on  them,  or  write  to  them,  it  would  be  a  kindness,  and  I 
think  they  would  both  feel  it." 

"  Humph ! "  said  Talboys  doubtfully.  Here  a  servant 
stepped  up  to  Miss  Fountain  :  "■  JVIaster  would  be  glad  to 
see  you  in  his  study,  miss." 

"  I  have  got  something  for  you,  Lucy.  I  know  what 
it  is ;  so  run  away  with  it,  and  read  it  in  your  own  room. 


4o4  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

for  I  am  busy."  He  handed  her  a  long  sealed  packet. 
She  took  it,  trembling,  and  flew  to  her  own  room  with 
it,  like  a  hawk  carrying  off  a  little  bird  to  its  nest. 

She  broke  the  enormous  seal,  and  took  out  the  enclos- 
ure. It  was  David  Dodd's  commission  ;  he  was  captain  of 
the  Kajah,  the  new  ship  of  eleven  hundred  tons  burden. 

While  she  gazes  at  it  with  dilating  eye  and  throbbing 
heart,  I  may  as  well  undeceive  the  reader.  This  was  not 
really  effected  in  forty-eight  hours.  Bazalgette  only 
pretended  that,  partly  out  of  fun,  partly  out  of  nobility. 
Ever  since  a  certain  interview  in  his  study  with  David 
Dodd,  who  was  a  man  after  his  own  heart,  he  had  taken 
a  note,  and  had  worked  for  him  with  "  the  Company  ; " 
for  Bazalgette  was  one  of  those  rare  men  who  reduce 
performance  to  a  certainty  long  before  they  promise. 
His  promises  were  like  pie-crust  —  made  to  be  eaten, 
and  eaten  hot. 

Lucy  came  out  of  her  room,  and,  at  the  same  moment, 
issued  forth  from  hers  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  in  a  fine  new 
dress.  It  was  that  black  glace  silk,  divested  of  gloom 
by  cheerful  accessories,  in  which  she  had  threatened  to 
mourn  eternally  Lucy's  watery  fate.  Fire  flashed  from 
the  young  lady's  eyes  at  the  sight  of  it.  She  went  down 
to  her  uncle,  muttering  between  her  ivory  teeth,  "  All  the 
same.  All  the  same."  And  her  heart  flowed.  The  next 
minute,  at  sight  of  Mr.  Bazalgette,  it  ebbed.  She  came 
into  his  room,  saying,  "  0  Uncle  Bazalgette  !  it  is  not  to 
thank  you :  that  I  can  never  do  worthily ;  it  is  to  ask 
another  favor.  Do,  pray,  let  me  spend  this  evening  with 
you !  let  me  be  where  you  are.  I  will  be  as  still  as  a 
mouse.  See,  I  have  brought  some  work ;  or,  if  you  would 
but  let  me  help  you.  Indeed,  uncle,  I  am  not  a  fool !  I 
am  very  quick  to  learn  at  the  bidding  of  those  I  love. 
Let  me  write  your  letters  for  you,  or  fold  them  up,  or 
direct  them  —  or  something.     Do,  pray." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  455 

"  Oh,  the  caprices  of  young  ladies  !  Well,  can  you 
write  large  and  plain  ?  —  not  you." 

"I  can  imitate  anything,  or  anybody." 

"  Imitate  this  hand,  then.  I'll  walk  and  dictate ;  you 
sit  and  write." 

"  Oh,  how  nice." 

"  Delicious  !  The  first  is  to  —  Hetherington.  Now, 
Lucy,  this  is  a  dishonest,  ungrateful,  old  rogue,  who  has 
made  thousands  by  me,  and  now  wants  to  let  me  into  a 
mine  with  nothing  in  it  but  water.  It  would  suck  up 
twenty  thousand  pounds  as  easily  as  that  blotting-paper 
will  suck  up  our  signatures." 

"  Heartless  traitor  !  monster  ! "  cried  Lucy. 

"  Are  you  ready  ?  " 

"  Yes  !  "  and  her  eye  flashed,  and  the  pen  was  to  her  a 
stiletto. 

Bazalgette  dictated,  "  My  dear  sir  "  — 

"  What !  to  a  cheat  ?  " 

"  Custom,  child.  I'll  have  a  stamp  made.  Besides,  if 
sve  let  them  see  we  saw  through  them,  they  would  play 
closer  and  closer." 

" '  My  dear  sir,  —  In  answer  to  yours  of  date  11th 
instant  —  I  regret  to  say  —  that  circumstances  prevent  — 
my  closing  —  with  your  obliging  —  and  friendly  offer.'  " 

They  wrote  eight  letters ;  and  Lucy's  quick  fingers 
folded  up  prospectuses ;  and  her  rays  brightened  the 
room.  When  the  Avork  was  done,  she  clung  round  Mr. 
Bazalgette  and  caressed  him,  and  seemed  strangely 
unwilling  to  part  with  him  at  all ;  in  fact,  it  was  twelve 
o'clock,  and  the  drawing-room  empty,  when  they  parted. 

At  one  o'clock  the  whole  house  was  dark,  except  one 
room,  and  both  windows  of  that  room  blazed  with  light. 
And  it  happened  there  was  a  spectator  of  this  phenome- 
non. A  man  stood  upon  the  grass  and  eyed  those  lights 
as  if  they  were  the  stars  of  his  destiny. 


456  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

It  was  David  Dodd.  Poor  David !  He  had  struck  a 
bargain,  and  was  to  command  a  coasting  vessel,  and  carry 
wood  from  the  Thames  to  our  southern  ports.  An  irre- 
sistible impulse  brought  him  to  look,  before  he  sailed, 
on  the  place  that  held  the  angel  who  had  destroj^ed  his 
prospects,  and  whom  he  loved  as  much  as  ever,  though 
he  was  too  proud  to  court  a  second  refusal, 

"  She  watches,  too,"  thought  David ;  ''  but  it  is  not  for 
me,  as  I  for  her." 

At  half-past  one  the  lights  began  to  dance  before  his 
wearied  eyes ;  and,  presently,  David,  weakened  by  his 
late  fever,  dozed  off  and  forgot  all  his  troubles,  and 
slept  as  sweetly  on  the  grass  as  he  had  often  slept  on 
the  hard  deck  with  his  head  upon  a  gun. 

Luck  was  against  the  poor  fellow.  He  had  not  been 
unconscious  much  more  than  ten  minutes,  when  Lucy's 
window  opened,  and  she  looked  out,  and  he  never  saw 
her.  Nor  did  she  see  him,  for,  though  the  moon  was 
bright,  it  was  not  shining  on  him ;  he  lay  within  the 
shadow  of  a  tree.  But  Lucy  did  see  something :  a  light 
upon  the  turnpike  road,  about  forty  yards  from  Mr. 
Bazalgette's  gates.  She  slipped  cautiously  down,  a  band- 
box in  her  hand,  and  unbolting  the  door  that  opened  on 
the  garden,  issued  out,  passed  within  a  few  yards  of 
Dodd,  and  went  round  to  the  front,  and  finally  reached 
the  turnpike-road.  There  she  found  Mrs.  Wilson,  with 
a  light  covered  cart  and  horse,  and  a  lantern.  At  sight 
of  her  Mrs.  Wilson  put  out  the  light,  and  they  embraced. 
Then  they  spoke  in  whispers.  "Come,  darling,  don't 
tremble ;  have  you  got  much  more  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,  several  things." 

"Look  at  that,  now  !  But,  dear  heart,  I  was  the  same 
at  your  age,  and  should  be  now,  like  enough.  Fetch 
them  all,  as  quick  as  you  like.  I  am  feared  to  leave 
Blackbird,  or  I'd  help  you  down  with  'em." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  457 

"  Is  there  nobody  with  you  to  take  care  of  us  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  —  men  folk  ?   Not  if  I  know  it." 

"  You  are  right.    You  are  wise.     Oh,  how  courageous ! " 

And  she  went  back  for  her  finery.     And  certain  it  is  she 

had   more   baggage   than  I  should  choose  for  a  forced 

march. 

But  all  has  an  end  —  even  a  female  luggage-train;  so 
at  last  she  put  out  all  her  lights  and  came  down,  stepping 
like  a  fairy,  with  a  large  basket  in  her  hand. 

Now,  it  happened  that  by  this  time  the  moon's  position 
was  changed,  and  only  a  part  of  David  lay  in  the  shade ; 
his  head  and  shoulders  glittered  in  broad  moonlight ;  and 
Lucy,  taking  her  farewell  of  a  house  where  she  had  spent 
many  happy  days,  cast  her  eyes  all  around  to  bid  good-by, 
and  spied  a  man  lying  within  a  few  paces,  and  looking 
like  a  corpse  in  the  silver  sheen.  She  dropped  her 
basket ;  her  knees  knocked  together  with  fear,  and  she 
fled  towards  IVIrs.  Wilson.  But  she  did  not  go  far,  for 
the  features,  indistinct  as  they  were  by  distance  and  pale 
light,  struck  her  mind,  and  she  stopped  and  looked  tim- 
idly over  her  shoulder.  The  figure  never  moved.  Then, 
with  beating  heart,  she  went  towards  him  slowly  and  so 
stealthily  that  she  would  have  passed  a  mouse  without 
disturbing  it ;  and  presently  she  stood  by  him  and 
looked  down  on  him  as  he  lay. 

And,  as  she  looked  at  him  lying  there,  so  pale,  so 
uncomplaining,  so  placid,  under  her  windows,  this  silent 
proof  of  love,  and  the  thought  of  the  raging  sea  this 
helpless  form  had  steered  her  through,  and  all  he  had 
suffered  as  well  as  acted  for  her,  made  her  bosom  heave, 
and  stirred  all  that  was  woman  within  her.  He  loved 
her  still,  then ;  or  why  was  he  here  ?  And  then  the 
thought  that  she  had  done  something  for  him,  too, 
warmed  her  heart  still  more  towards  him.  And  there 
was  nothing  for  her  to  repel  now,  for  he  lay  motionless ; 


458  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

there  was  notliing  for  lier  to  escape,  —  lie  did  not  pursue 
her  ;  nothing  to  negative,  —  he  did  not  propose  anything 
to  her.  Her  instinct  of  defence  had  nothing  to  lay  hold 
of;  so,  woman-like,  she  had  a  strong  impulse  to  wake 
him,  and  be  kind  to  him  —  as  kind  as  she  could  be  with- 
out committing  herself.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  shy, 
trembling,  virgin  modesty,  and  shame  that  he  should 
detect  her  making  a  midnight  evasion,  and  fear  of  letting 
him  think  she  loved  him.  While  she  stood  thus,  wit-h 
something  drawing  her  on,  and  something  drawing  her 
back,  and  palpitating  in  every  fibre,  Mrs.  Wilson's  voice 
was  heard  in  low  but  anxious  tones  calling  her.  A  feather 
turned  the  balanced  scale.  She  must  go.  Fate  had 
decided  for  her.  She  was  called.  Then  the  sprites  of 
mischief  tempted  her  to  let  David  know  she  had  been 
near  him.  She  longed  to  put  his  commission  into  his 
pocket;  but  that  was  impossible;  it  was  at  the  very 
bottom  of  her  box.  She  took  out  her  tablets,  wrote  the 
word  "  Adieu,"  tore  out  half  the  leaf,  and,  bending  over 
David,  attached  the  little  bit  of  paper  by  a  pin  to  the 
tail  of  his  coat.  If  he  had  been  ever  so  much  awake  he 
could  not  have  felt  her  doing  it ;  for  her  hand  touching 
him,  and  the  white  paper  settling  on  his  coat,  it  was  all 
done  as  lights  a  spot  of  down  on  still  water  from  the 
bending  neck  of  a  swan. 

"No,  dear  Mrs.  Wilson,  we  must  not  go  yet;  I  will 
hold  the  horse,  and  you  must  go  back  for  me  for  some- 
thing." 

"  I'm  agreeable.  What  is  it  ?  Why,  what  is  up  ? 
How  you  do  pant ! " 

"  I  have  made  a  discovery.  There  is  a  gentleman 
lying  asleep  there  on  the  wet  grass." 

"  Lack-a-daisy  !     Why,  you  don't  say  so  ! " 

"  It  is  a  friend,  and  he  will  catch  his  death." 

"Why,  of  course  he  will.     He  will  have  had  a  drop 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  459 

too  much,  ]\[iss  Lucy.  I'll  wake  him,  and  we  will  take 
him  along  home  with  us." 

*'  Oh,  not  for  the  world,  nurse  !  I  would  not  have  him 
see  what  I  am  doing,  —  oh,  not  for  all  the  world !  " 

"  Where  is  he  ?  " 

"In  there,  under  the  great  tree." 

"  Well,  you  get  into  the  cart,  miss,  and  hold  the  reins." 
And  Mrs.  Wilson  went  into  the  grounds  and  soon  found 
David.  She  put  her  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and  he  awoke 
directly,  and  looked  surprised  at  Mrs.  Wilson. 

"Are  you  better,  sir  ?"  said  the  good  woman.  "Why, 
if  it  isn't  the  handsome  gentleman  that  was  so  kind  to 
me !  Now,  do  ee  go  in,  sir,  do  ee  go  in.  You  will  catch 
your  death  o'  cold."  She  made  sure  he  was  staying  at 
the  house. 

David  looked  up  at  Lucy's  windows.  "  Yes,  I  will  go 
home,  Mrs.  Wilson;  there  is  nothing  to  stay  for  now," 
and  he  accompanied  her  to  the  cart.  But  Mrs.  Wilson 
remembered  Lucy's  desire  not  to  be  seen ;  so  she  said 
very  loud,  "I'm  sure  it's  very  lucky  me  and  my  niece 
happened  to  be  coming  home  so  late,  and  see  you  lying 
there.  Well,  one  good  turn  deserves  another.  Come 
and  see  me  at  my  farm  —  you  go  through  the  village  of 
Harrowden,  and  anybody  there  will  tell  yovi  where  Dame 
Wilson  do  live.  I  would  ask  you  to-night,  but"  —  she 
hesitated,  and  Lucy  let  down  her  veil. 

"  No,  thank  you,  not  now.  My  sister  will  be  fretting 
as  it  is.  Good-morning ; "  and  his  steps  were  heard 
retreating,  as  Mrs.  Wilson  mounted  the  cart. 

"Well,  I  should  have  liked  to  have  taken  him  home 
and  warmed  him  a  bit,"  said  the  good  woman  to  Lucy. 
"  It  is  enough  to  give  him  the  rheumatics  for  life.  How- 
ever, he  is  not  the  first  honest  man  as  has  had  a  drop  too 
much,  and  taken  'y  rest  without  a  feather-bed.  Alack, 
miss !  why,  you  are  all  of  a  tremble !     What  ails  you  ? 


460  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

I'm  a  fool  to  ask.  Ah,  well,  you'll  soon  be  at  home,  and 
nought  to  vex  you.  That  is  right :  have  a  good  cry,  do ! 
Ay,  ay !  'tis  hard  to  he  forced  to  leave  our  nest,  but  all 
places  are  bright  where  love  abides.  And  there's  honest 
hearts  both  here  and  there,  and  the  same  sky  above  us 
wherever  we  wander.  And  the  God  of  the  fatherless 
above  all.  And  better  a  peaceful  cottage  than  a  palace 
full  of  strife."  And  with  many  such  homely  sayings 
the  rustic  consoled  her  nursling  on  their  little  journey, 
nor  quite  in  vain. 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  461 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Next  morning  the  house  was  in  an  uproar.  Servants 
ran  to  and  fro  ;  and  the  lish-pond  was  dragged  at  Mr. 
Fountain's  request.  But  on  these  occasions  everybody 
claims  a  right  to  speak ;  so  Jane  came  into  the  breakfast- 
room,  and  said,  "If  you  please,  mum,  Miss  Lucy  isn't  in 
the  pond,  for  she  have  taken  a  good  part  of  her  clothes 
and  all  her  jewels." 

This  piece  of  common-sense  convinced  everybody  on 
the  spot  except  Mrs.  Bazalgette.  That  lady,  if  she  had 
decided  on  "making  a  hole  in  the  water,"  would  have 
sat  on  the  bank  first,  and  clapped  on  all  her  jewels,  and 
all  her  richest  dresses,  one  on  the  top  of  another. 
Finally,  Mr.  Bazalgette,  who  wore  a  sombre  air,  and  had 
not  said  a  word,  requested  everybody  to  mind  their  own 
business.  "I  have  a  communication  from  Lucy,"  said 
he ;  "  and  I  do  not  at  present  disapprove  the  step  she 
has  taken." 

All  eyes  turned  with  astonishment  towards  him,  and 
the  next  moment  all  voices  oj^ened  on  him  like  a  pack  of 
hounds.  But  he  declined  to  give  them  any  further  infor- 
mation :  between  ourselves,  he  had  none  to  give.  The 
little  note  Lucy  left  on  his  table  merely  begged  him  to 
be  under  no  anxiety,  and  prayed  him  to  suspend  his 
judgment  of  her  conduct  till  he  should  know  the  whole 
case.  It  was  his  strong  good-sense  which  led  him  to  pre- 
tend he  was  in  the  whole  secret.  By  this  means  he  substi- 
tuted mystery  for  scandal,  and  contrived  that  the  girl's 
folly  might  not  be  irreparable. 

At  the  same  time  he  was  deeply  indignant  with  her, 


462  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

and,  above  all,  with  her  hypocrisy  in  clinging  round  him 
and  kissing  him  the  very  night  she  meditated  flight 
from  his  house. 

"  I  must  find  the  girl  out,  and  get  her  back,"  said  he ; 
and  directly  after  breakfast  he  collected  his  myrmidons 
and  set  them  to  discover  her  retreat. 

The  outward  frame-work  of  the  holy  alliance  remained 
standing,  but  within  it  was  dissolving  fast.  Each  of  the 
allies  was  even  now  thinking  how  to  find  Lucy,  and  make 
a  separate  peace.  During  the  flutter,  which  now  sub- 
sided, one  person  had  done  nothing  but  eat  pigeon-pie. 

It  was  Kenealy,  captain  of  horse. 

Now  eating  pigeon-pie  is  not,  in  itself,  a  suspicious 
act;  but  ladies  are  so  sharp.  Mrs.  Bazalgette  said  to 
herself,  "  This  creature  alone  is  not  a  bit  surprised  (for 
Bazalgette  is  fibbing).  Why  is  this  creature  not  surprised  ? 
Humph !  Captain  Kenealy,"  said  she  in  honeyed  tones, 
"  what  would  you  advise  us  to  do  ?  " 

"  Advertaize,"  drawled  the  captain,  as  cool  as  a  cucumber. 

"  Advertise  ?     What,  publish  her  name  ?  " 

"  No !  no  names.  I'll  tell  yah,"  and  he  proceeded  to 
drawl  out  very  slowly,  from  memory,  the  following  adver- 
tisement. N.B.  —  The  captain  was  a  great  reader  of 
advertisements,  and  of  little  else. 

"WANDERAA,  RETARN! 

"If  L.  F.  will  retarn  —  to  her  afflicted  —  relatives  —  she 
shall  be  received  with  open  aams  —  all  shall  be  forgotten  and 
forgiven —  and  reunaited  aft'ection  shall  solace  every  wound." 

"  That  is  the  style.  It  always  brings  'em  back. 
Dayvilish  good  paie.     Have  some  moa  ?  " 

Mr.  Fountain  and  Mrs.  Bazalgette  raised  an  outcry 
against  the  captain's  advice,  and  when  the  table  was 
calm  again,  Mrs.  Bazalgette  surprised  them  all  by  fixing 
her  eyes  on  Kenealy,  and  saying  quietly,  "You  know 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  463 

where  she  is."  She  added  more  excitedly,  "Now,  don't 
deny  it !  On  your  honor,  sir,  have  you  no  idea  where 
my  niece  is  ?  " 

"  Upon  my  honah,  I  have  an  idea." 

"Then  tell  me." 

"  I'd  rayther  not." 

"  Perhaps  you  would  prefer  to  tell  me  in  private." 

"No;  prefer  not  to  tell  at  all." 

Then  the  whole  table  opened  on  him,  and  appealed  to 
his  manly  feeling,  his  sense  of  hospitality,  his  humanity, 
to  gratify  their  curiosity. 

Kenealy  stretched  himself  out  from  the  waist  down- 
wards, and  delivered  himself  thus,  with  a  double  infusion 
of  his  drawl :  — 

"See  yah  all  dem-d  first." 

At  noon  on  the  same  day,  by  the  influence  of  Mrs. 
Bazalgette,  the  British  army  was  swelled  by  Kenealy, 
captain  of  horse. 

The  whole  day  passed,  and  Lucy's  retreat  was  not  yet 
discovered.  But  more  than  one  hunter  was  hemming 
her  in. 

The  next  day,  being  the  second  after  her  elopement 
with  her  nurse,  at  eleven  in  the  forenoon,  Lucy  and  Mrs. 
Wilson  sat  in  the  little  parlor  working.  Mrs.  Wilson 
had  seen  the  poultry  fed,  the  butter  churned,  and  the 
pudding  safe  in  the  pot,  and  her  mind  was  at  ease  for  a 
good  hour  to  come,  so  she  sat  quiet  and  peaceful.  Lucy, 
too,  was  at  peace.  Her  eye  was  clear,  and  her  color 
coming  back ;  she  was  not  bursting  with  happiness,  for 
there  was  a  sweet  pensiveness  mixed  with  her  sweet 
tranquillity ;  but  she  looked  every  now  and  then  smiling 
from  her  work  up  at  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  the  dame  kept 
looking  at  her  with  a  motherly  joy  caused  by  her  bare 
presence  on  that  hearth.  Lucy  basked  in  these  maternal 
glances.     At  last  she  said,  — 


464  LOVE   ME    LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"  ISTvirse." 

"  My  dear  ?  " 

"If  you  had  never  done  anything  for  me,  still  I  should 
know  you  love  me." 

"  Should  ye  now  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes  !  there  is  the  look  in  your  eye  that  I  used  to 
long  to  see  in  my  poor  aunt's ;  but  it  never  came." 

"  Well,  Miss  Lucy,  I  can't  help  it.  To  think  it  is  really 
you  setting  there  by  my  fire.  I  do  feel  like  a  cat  with 
one  kitten.  You  should  check  me,  glaring  you  out  o' 
countenance  like  that !  " 

''  Check  you !  I  could  not  bear  to  lose  one  glance  of 
that  honest,  tender  eye.  I  would  not  exchange  one  for 
all  the  flatteries  of  the  world.  I  am  so  happy  here,  so 
tranquil,  under  my  nurse's  wing." 

With  this  declaration  came  a  little  sigh. 

Mrs.  Wilson  caught  it.  "Is  there  nothing  wanting, 
dear  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Well,  I  do  keep  wishing  for  one  thing." 

"  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  can't  help  my  thoughts." 

"  But  you  can  help  keeping  them  from  me,  nurse." 

"Well,  my  dear,  I  am  like  a  mother,  I  watch  every 
word  of  yours  and  every  look ;  and  it  is  my  belief  you 
blind  yourself  a  bit :  many  a  young  maid  has  done  that. 
I  do  judge  there  is  a  young  man  that  is  more  to  you 
than  you  think  for." 

"  Who  on  earth  is  that,  nurse  ?  "  asked  Lucy,  coloring. 

"  The  handsome  young  gentleman." 

"  Oh,  they  are  all  handsome  —  all  my  pests." 

"The  one  I  found  under  your  window.  Miss  Lucy. 
He  wasn't  in  liquor,  so  what  was  he  there  for  ?  and  you 
know  you  were  not  at  your  ease  till  you  had  made  me 
go  and  wake  him  and  send  him  home,  and  you  Avere  all  of 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ^JE   LONG.  465 

a  tremble.  I'd  a  widely  now,  and  can  speak  my  mind  to 
men-folk  all  one  as  women-folk ;  but  I've  been  a  maid, 
and  I  can  mind  how  I  was  in  those  days.  Liking  did 
use  to  whisper  me  to  do  so  and  so ;  Shyness  up  and  said, 
'  La !  not  for  all  the  world,  what  ever'll  he  think  ? '  " 

"  Oh,  nurse  !  do  you  believe  me  capable  of  loving  one 
who  does  not  love  me  ?  " 

"  No.  Who  said  he  doesn't  love  you  ?  What  was  he 
there  for  ?     I  stick  to  that." 

"  Kow,  nurse  dear,  be  reasonable ;  if  Mr.  Dodd  loved 
me,  would  he  go  to  sleep  in  my  presence  ?  " 

"  Eh,  Miss  Lucy !  the  poor  soul  was,  maybe,  asleep 
before  you  left  your  room." 

"  It  is  all  the  same.  He  slept  while  I  stood  close  to 
him  ever  so  long.  Slept  while  I  —  if  I  loved  anybody 
as  these  gentlemen  pretend  they  love  us,  should  I  sleep 
while  the  being  I  adored  was  close  to  me  ?  " 

"You  are  too  hard  upon  him.  'The  spirit  is  willing, 
but  the  flesh  is  weak.'  Why,  miss,  we  do  read  of  Eutychus, 
how  he  snoozed  off  setting  under  Paul  himself  —  up  in 
the  windy,  and  down  a-tumbled.  But  parson  says  it  wasn't 
that  he  didn't  love  religion,  or  why  should  Paul  make  it 
his  business  to  bring  him  to  life  again,  'stead  of  letting 
un  lie  for  a  warning  to  the  sleepy -headed  ones.  '  'Twas  a 
wearied  body,  not  a  heart  cold  to  God,'  says  our  parson." 

"  Now,  nurse,  I  take  you  at  your  word.  If  Eutychus 
had  been  Eutycha,  and  in  love  with  St.  Paul,  Eutycha 
would  never  have  gone  to  sleep,  though  St.  Paul  preached 
all  day  and  all  night ;  and  if  Dorcas  had  preached  instead 
of  St.  Paul,  and  Eutychus  in  love  with  her,  he  would  never 
have  gone  to  sleep,  and  you  know  it." 

At  this  home  thrust  Mrs.  Wilson  Avas  staggered  5  but 
the  next  moment  her  sense  of  discomfiture  gave  way  to 
a  broad  expression  of  triumph  at  her  nursling's  Avit. 

"  Eh,  Miss  Lucy ! "  cried  she,  showing  a  broadside  of 


466  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

great  white  teeth,  in  a  rustic  chuckle,  "  but  ye've  got  a 
tongue  in  your  head.  Ye've  sewed  up  my  stocking,  and 
'tisn't  many  of  'em  can  do  that."  Lucy  followed  up  her 
advantage. 

"  And,  nurse,  even  when  he  was  wide  awake,  and  stood 
by  the  cart,  no  inward  sentiment  warned  him  of  my 
presence  —  a  sure  sign  he  did  not  love  me.  Though  I 
have  never  experienced  love,  I  have  read  of  it,  and  know 
all  about  it."     Justice  des  femmes  ! 

"  Well,  Miss  Lucy,  have  it  your  own  way ;  after  all,  if 
he  loves  you  he  will  find  you  out." 

"Of  course  he  would,  and  you  will  see  he  will  do 
nothing  of  the  kind." 

*'  Then  I  wish  I  knew  where  he  was,  I  would  pull  him 
in  at  my  door  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck." 

"And  then  I  should  jump  out  at  the  window.  Come, 
try  on  your  new  cap,  nurse,  that  I  have  made  for  you ; 
and  let  us  talk  about  anything  you  like,  except  gentle- 
men. Gentlemen  are  a  sore  subject  with  me.  Gentlemen 
have  been  my  ruin." 

"  La,  Miss  Lucy  !  " 

"  I  assure  you  they  have ;  why,  have  they  not  set  my 
uncle's  heart  against  me,  and  my  aunt's,  and  robbed  me 
of  the  affection  I  once  had  for  both  ?  I  believe  gentle- 
men to  be  the  pest  of  society ;  and  oh  !  the  delight  of 
being  here  in  this  calm  retreat,  where  love  dwells,  and 
no  gentleman  can  find  me.  Ah !  ah !  oh !  What  is 
that  ?  " 

For  a  heavy  blow  descended  on  the  door.  "  That  is 
Jenny's  knockj''  said  Mrs.  Wilson,  dryly.  "Come  in, 
Jenny."  The  servant,  thus  invited,  burst  the  door  open 
as  savagely  as  she  had  struck  it,  and  announced  with 
a  knowing  grin,  "  A  gentlkman  —  fob  Miss  Fountain." 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG.      467 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

David  and  Eve  sat  together  at  their  little  breakfast, 
and  pressed  each  other  to  eat;  but  neither  could  eat. 
David's  night  excursion  had  filled  Eve  with  new  mis- 
givings. It  was  the  act  of  a  madman ;  and  we  know 
the  fears  that  beset  her  on  that  head,  and  their  ground. 
He  had  come  home  shivering,  and  she  had  forced  him  to 
keep  his  bed  all  that  day.  He  was  not  well  now,  and 
bodily  weakness,  added  to  his  other  afliictions,  bore  his 
spirit  down,  though  nothing  could  cow  it. 

"  When  are  you  to  sail  ?  "  inquired  Eve,  sick -like. 

"  In  three  days  :  cargo  won't  be  on  board  before." 

"A  coasting- vessel !  " 

"  A  man  can  do  his  duty  in  a  coaster  as  well  as  a  mer 
chantman,  or  a  frigate."     But  he  sighed. 

"  Would  to  God  you  had  never  seen  her !  " 

"  Don't  blame  her,  blame  me !  I  had  good  advice 
from  my  little  sister ;  but  I  was  wilful.  Never  mind, 
Eve,  I  needn't  to  blush  for  loving  her.  She  is  worthy  of 
it  all." 

"  Well,  think  so,  David,  if  you  can."  And  Eve,  thor- 
oughly depressed,  relapsed  into  silence.  The  postman's 
rap  was  heard,  and,  soon  after,  a  long  enclosure  was 
placed  in  Eve's  hand. 

Poor  little  Eve  did  not  receive  many  letters,  and,  sad 
as  she  was,  she  oj)ened  this  with  some  interest ;  but  how 
shall  I  paint  its  effect !  She  kept  uttering  shrieks  of 
joy,  one  after  another,  at  each  sentence.  And  when  she 
had  shrieked  with  joy  many  times,  she  ran  Avith  the 
large  paper  round  to  David.     "  You  are  captain  of  the 


468  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

Kajah  !  ah,  the  new  ship  !  ah,  eleven  hundred  tons!  Oh, 
David !  oh,  my  heart !  oh,  oh,  oh  ! "  and  the  poor  little 
thing  clasped  her  arms  round  her  brother's  neck,  and 
kissed  him  again  and  again,  and  cried  and  sobbed  for  joy.. 

All  men,  and  most  women,  go  through  life  without 
once  knowing  what  it  is  to  cry  for  joy  ;  and  it  is  a  com- 
fort to  think  that  Eve's  pure  and  deep  affection  brought 
her  such  a  moment  as  this  in  return  for  much  trouble 
and  sorrow. 

David,  stout-hearted  as  he  was,  was  shaken  as  the  sea 
and  the  wind  had  never  yet  shaken  him.  He  turned 
red  and  white  alternately,  and  trembled.  "  Captain  of 
the  Rajah  !  it  is  too  good,  it  is  too  good  !  I  have  done 
nothing /or  it."     And  he  was  incredulous. 

Eve  was  devouring  the  enclosure.  "  It  is  her  doing," 
she  cried :  "  it  is  all  her  doing." 

"  Whose  ?  " 

"  Who  do  you  think  ?  I  am  in  the  air.  I  am  in 
heaven.  Bless  her  !  Oh,  God  bless  her  for  this  !  Never 
speak  against  cold-blooded  folk  before  me;  they  have 
twice  the  principle  of  us  hot  ones  :  I  always  said  so. 
She  is  a  good  creature  !  she  is  a  true  friend  j  and  you 
accused  her  of  ingratitude." 

"  That  I  never  did." 

"You  did!  Eajah  —  he,  he,  oh!  and  I  defended  her. 
Here,  take  and  read  that :  is  that  a  commission  or  not  ? 
Now,  you  be  quiet,  and  let  us  see  what  she  says.  No,  I 
can't:  I  cannot  keep  the  nasty  tears  out  of  my  eyes. 
Do  take  and  read  it,  David :  I'm  blind." 

David  took  the  letter,  kissed  it,  and  read  it  out  to  Eve ; 
and  she  kept  crowing  and  shedding  tears  all  the  time  : 

Dear  Miss  Dodd,  —  I  admh-e  too  much  your  true  affection 
for  your  brother  to  be  indifferent  to  your  good  oj^inion.  Think 
of  me  as  leniently  as  you  can.  Perha2)s  it  gives  me  as  much 
pleasure  to  be  able  to  forward  you  the  enclosed  as  the  receipt 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG.  469 

of  it,  I  hope,  may  give  you.  It  would,  I  think,  be  more  wise, 
and  certainly  more  generous,  not  to  let  Mr.  Dodd  think  he 
owes  in  any  degree  to  me  that,  which,  if  the  world  were  just, 
would  surely  have  been  his  long  ago.  Only,  some  few  months 
hence,  when  it  can  do  him  no  harm,  I  could  wish  him  not  to 
think  his  friend  Lucy  was  ungrateful,  or  even  cold  in  his  serv- 
ice, who  saved  her  life,  and  once  honored  her  with  so  warm 
an  esteem.  But  all  this  I  confide  to  your  discretion  and  your 
justice.  Dear  Miss  Dodd,  those  who  give  pain  to  others  do  not 
escape  it  themselves,  nor  is  it  just  they  should :  my  insensi- 
bility to  the  merit  of  persons  of  the  other  sex  has  jn'ovoked 
my  rehitives :  they  have  punished  me  for  declining  Mr.  Dodd's 
inferiors,  with  a  bitterness  ]\Ir.  Dodd,  with  far  more  cause, 
never  showed  me.  So  you  see,  at  each  turn  I  am  reminded  of 
his  superiority.  The  result  is,  I  am  separated  from  my  friends, 
and  am  living  all  alone  with  my  dear  old  nurse,  at  her  farm- 
house. 

Since,  then,  I  am  imhappy,  and  you  are  generous,  you  will, 
I  think,  forgive  me  all  the  jiain  I  have  caused  you,  and  will 
let  me,  in  bidding  you  adieu,  subscribe  myself. 
Yours  affectionately, 

Lucy  Fountain. 

"  It  is  tlie  letter  of  a  sweet  girl,  David,  with  a  noble 
heart ;  and  she  has  taken  a  noble  revenge  of  me  for 
what  I  said  to  her  the  other  day,  and  made  her  cry,  like 
a  little  brute  as  I  am.     Why,  how  glum  you  look  ! " 

"  Eve,"  said  David,  "  do  you  think  I  will  accept  this 
from  her,  without  herself  ?  " 

"  Of  course  you  will.  Don't  be  too  greedy,  David. 
Leave  the  girl  in  peace  ;  she  has  shown  you  what  she 
will  do,  and  what  she  won't.  One  such  friend  as  this  is 
worth  a  hundred  lovers.     Give  me  her  dear  little  note." 

While  Eve  was  perusing  it,  David  went  out,  but  soon 
returned,  with  his  best  coat  on,  and  his  hat  in  his  hand. 
Eve  asked  with  some  surprise  where  he  was  going  in 
such  a  hurry. 

«  To  her." 


470  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME  LONG. 

"  Well,  David,  now  I  come  to  read  her  letter  quietly, 
it  is  a  woman's  letter  all  over  ;  you  may  read  it  which 
way  you  like.  What  need  had  she  to  tell  me  she  has 
just  refused  offers  ?  And  then  she  tells  me  she  is  all 
alone.  That  sounds  like  a  hint  the  company  of  a  friend 
might  be  agreeable.  Brush  your  coat  first,  at  any  rate  : 
there's  something  white  on  it :  it  is  a  paper  :  it  is  pinned 
on.  Come  here  !  Why,  what  is  this  ?  it  is  written  on, 
'  Adieu.' "     And  Eve  opened  her  eyes  and  mouth  as  weU. 

She  asked  him  when  he  wore  the  coat  last. 

"  The  day  before  yesterday." 

"  Were  you  in  company  of  any  girls  ?  " 

"Not  I." 

"  But  this  is  written  by  a  girl,  and  it  is  pinned  on  by  a 
girl :  see  how  it  is  quilted  in :  that's  proof  positive. 
Oh,  oh,  oh  I  look  here  !  Look  at  these  two  '  adieus,'  — 
the  one  in  the  letter,  and  this.  They  are  the  same,  pre- 
cisely the  same.  What,  in  heaven's  name,  is  the  mean- 
ing of  this  ?     Were  you  in  her  company  that  night  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Will  you  swear  that  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  can't  swear  it,  because  I  was  asleep  a  part  of 
the  time :  but,  waking,  in  her  company  I  was  not." 

"  It  is  her  writing,  and  she  pinned  it  on  you." 

"How  can  that  be,  Eve  ?  " 

"I  don't  know;  I  am  sure  she  did,  though.  Look  at 
this  *  adieu '  and  that ;  you'll  never  get  it  out  of  my  head 
one  hand  wrote  them  both.  You  are  so  green ;  a  girl 
would  come  behind  you  and  pin  it  on  you,  and  you  never 
feel  her." 

While  saying  these  words.  Eve  slyly  repinned  it  on 
him  without  his  feeling  or  knowing  anything  about  it. 

David  was  impatient  to  be  gone,  but  she  held  him  a 
minute  to  advise  him. 

"Tell  her  she  must  and  shall.     Don't  take  a  denial. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  471 

If  you  are  cowardly,  she  will  be  bold ;  but  if  you  are 
bold  and  resolute,  she  will  knuckle  down ;  mind  that, 
and  don't  go  about  it  with  such  a  face  as  that,  as  long  as 
my  arm.  If  she  says  '  No,'  you  have  got  the  ship  to 
comfort  you.     Oh,  I  am  so  happy  !  " 

"  No,  Eve,"  said  David ;  "  if  she  won't  give  me  herself, 
I'll  never  take  her  ship.  I'd  die  a  fore-top  man  sooner  ; " 
and,  with  these  parting  words,  he  renewed  all  his  sister's 
anxiety.  She  sat  down  sorrowfully,  and  the  horrible 
idea  gained  on  her  that  there  was  mania  in  David's  love 
for  Lucy. 


472  liOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

David  had  one  advantage  over  others  that  were  now 
hunting  Lucy.  Mrs.  Wilson  had  unwittingly  given  him 
pretty  plain  directions  how  to  find  her  farmhouse ;  and 
as  Eve,  in  the  exercise  of  her  discretion,  or  indiscretion, 
had  shown  David  Lucy's  letter,  he  had  only  to  ride  to 
Harrowden  and  inquire.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  his 
competitors  were  a  few  miles  nearer  the  game,  and  had 
a  day's  start. 

David  got  a  horse  and  galloped  to  Harrowden;  fed 
him  at  the  inn,  and  asked  where  Mrs.  Wilson's  farm  was. 
The  waiter,  a  female,  did  not  know,  but  would  inquire. 
Meantime  David  asked  for  two  sheets  of  paper,  and 
wrote  a  few  lines  on  each ;  then  folded  them  both  (in 
those  days  envelopes  were  not),  but  did  not  seal  them. 
Mrs.  Wilson's  farm  turned  out  to  be  only  two  miles 
from  Harrowden,  and  the  road  easy  to  find.  He  was 
soon  there ;  gave  his  horse  to  one  of  the  farm-b.oys,  and 
went  into  the  kitchen  and  asked  if  Miss  Fountain  lived 
there.  This  question  threw  him  into  the  hands  of  Jenny, 
who  invited  him  to  follow  her,  and,  unlike  your  pow- 
dered and  noiseless  lackey,  pounded  the  door  with  her 
fist,  kicked  it  open'  with  her  foot,  and  announced  him 
with  that  thunderbolt  of  language  which  fell  so  inoppor- 
tunely on  Lucy's  self-congratulations. 

The  look  Mrs.  Wilson  cast  on  Lucy  was  droll  enough ; 
but  when  David's  square  shoulders  and  handsome  face 
filled  up  the  doorway,  a  second  look  followed  that  spoke 
folios. 

Lucy  rose,  and  with  heightened  color,  but  admirable 
self-possession,  welcomed  David  like  a  valued  friend. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  473 

Mrs.  Wilson's  greeting  was  broad  and  hearty  :  and 
very  soon  after  she  had  made  him  sit  down,  she  bounced 
up,  crying,  "  You  will  stay  dinner  now  you  be  come  :  and 
I  must  see  as  they  don't  starve  you."  So  saying,  out  she 
went :  but  looking  back  at  the  door,  was  transfixed  by 
an  arrow  of  reproach  from  her  nursling's  eye. 

Lucy's  reception  of  David,  kind  as  it  was,  was  not 
encouraging  to  one  coming  on  David's  errand,  for  there 
was  the  wrong  shade  of  amity  in  it. 

In  times  past,  it  would  have  cooled  David  with  mis- 
givings ;  but  now  he  did  not  give  himself  time  to  be 
discouraged:  he  came  to  make  a  last  desperate  effort, 
and  he  made  it  at  once.  "  Miss  Lucy,  I  have  got  the 
Rajah,  thanks  to  you." 

"  Thanks  to  me,  Mr.  Dodd  ?  Thanks  to  your  own  high 
character  and  merit." 

"  Ko,  Miss  Lucy,  you  know  better ;  and  I  know  better ; 
and  there  is  your  own  sweet  handwriting  to  prove  it." 

"  Miss  Dodd  has  showed  you  my  letter  ?  " 

"  How  could  she  help  it  ?  " 

"What  a  pity  !  how  injudicious  ! " 

"  The  truth  is  like  the  light :  why  keep  it  out  ?  Yes ; 
what  I  have  worked  for,  and  battled  the  weather  so  many 
years,  and  been  sober  and  prudent,  and  a  hard  student  at 
every  idle  hour,  —  that  has  come  to  me  in  one  moment, 
from  your  dear  hand." 

"  It  is  a  shame." 

"  Bless  you.  Miss  Lucy ! "  cried  David,  not  noting  the 
remark. 

Lucy  blushed,  and  the  water  stood  in  her  eyes.  She 
murmured  softly,  "  You  should  not  say  Miss  Lucy  ;  it  is 
not  customary.     You  should  say  Lucy,  or  Miss  Fountain." 

This  apropos  remark  by  way  of  a  female  diversion. 

"Then  let  me  say,  Lucy,  to-day,  for  perhaps  I  shall 
never  say  that,  or  anything  that  is  sweet  to  say,  again. 
Lucy,  you  know  what  I  came  for  ?  " 


474  LOVE   ]ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"■  Oh,  yes  !  to  receive  my  congratulations." 

''  More  than  that  —  a  great  deal.  To  ask  you  to  go 
halves  in  the  Rajah." 

Lucy's  eyebrows  demanded  an  explanation. 

"  She  is  worth  two  thousand  a  year  to  her  commander : 
and  that  is  too  much  for  a  bachelor." 

Lucy  colored  and  smiled.  "Why,  it  is  only  just 
enough  for  most  of  them  to  live  upon." 

"  It  is  too  much  for  me  alone,  under  the  circumstances," 
(Said  David  gravely :  and  there  was  a  little  silence. 

"Lucy  —  I  love  you.  With  you  the  Rajah  would  be 
a  godsend.  She  will  help  me  keep  you  in  the  company 
you  have  been  used  to,  and  were  made  to  brighten  and 
adorn :  but  without  you,  I  cannot  take  her  from  your 
hand  —  and  to  speak  plain,  I  won't." 

"Oh!  Mr.  Dodd!" 

"  No,  Lucy,  before  I  knew  you,  to  command  a  ship  was 
the  height  of  my  ambition,  her  quarter-deck  my  heaven 
on  earth ;  and  this  is  a  clipper,  I  own  it :  I  saw  her  in  the 
docks.  But  you  have  taught  me  to  look  higher.  Share 
my  ship  and  my  heart  with  me,  and  certainly  the  ship 
will  be  my  child,  and  all  the  dearer  to  me  that  she  came 
to  us  from  her  I  love.  But  don't  say  to  me,  '  Me  you 
shan't  have,  you  are  not  good  enough  for  that ;  but  there 
is  a  ship  for  you  in  my  place  ! '  I  wouldn't  accept  a  star 
out  of  the  firmament  on  those  terms." 

"  How  unreasonable  !  On  the  contrary,  you  sliould 
say,  '  I  am  doubly  fortunate :  I  escape  a  foolish,  weak 
companion  for  life,  and  I  have  a  beautiful  ship.'  But 
friendship  such  as  mine  for  you  was  never  appreciated ; 
I  do  you  injustice ;  you  only  talk  like  that  to  tease  me 
and  make  me  unhappy." 

"  Oh,  Lucy,  Lucy  !  did  you  ever  know  me  "  — 

"  There,  now,  forgive  me  !  and  own  you  are  not  in 
earnest." 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  475 

"  This  will  show  you,"  said  David  sadly,  and  he  took 
out  two  letters  from  his  bosom.  "  Here  are  two  letters 
to  the  secretary.  In  one  I  accept  the  ship  with  thanks, 
and  offer  to  superintend  her  when  her  rigging  is  being 
set  up :  and  in  this  one  I  decline  her  altogether,  with  my 
humble  and  sincere  thanks." 

''  Oh,  yes ;  you  are  very  humble,  sir,"  said  Lucy. 
"Now  —  dear  friend  —  listen  to  reason.  You  have 
others  "  — 

"  Excuse  my  interruj)ting  you,  but  it  is  a  rule  with  me 
never  to  reason  about  right  and  wrong :  I  notice  that 
whoever  does  that,  ends  by  choosing  wrong.  I  don't  go 
to  my  head  to  find  my  duty,  I  go  to  my  heart ;  and  what 
little  manhood  there  is  in  me  all  cries  out  against  me 
compounding  with  the  woman  I  love,  and  taking  a  ship 
instead  of  her." 

"  How  unkind  you  are  !  it  is  not  as  if  I  was  under  no 
obligations  to  you.  Is  not  my  life  worth  a  ship  ?  You 
said  I  was  an  angel." 

"  I  can't  see  it  so.  It  was  a  greater  pleasure  to  me  to 
save  your  life,  as  you  call  it,  than  it  could  be  to  you. 
I  can't  let  that  into  the  account.  A  woman  is  a  woman, 
but  a  man  is  a  man ;  and  I  will  be  under  no  obligation 
to  you  but  one." 

"  What  arrogance  ! " 

"  Don't  you  be  angry  !  I'll  love  you  and  bless  you  all 
the  same.  But  I  am  a  man,  and  a  man  I'll  die,  whether 
I  die  captain  of  a  ship  or  of  a  foretop.     Poor  Eve  ! " 

"  See  how  power  tries  people,  and  brings  out  their  true 
character.  Since  you  commanded  the  Eajah,  you  are  all 
changed.  You  used  to  be  submissive :  now  you  must 
have  your  own  way  entirely ;  you  will  fling  my  poor  ship 
in  my  face  unless  I  give  you — but  this  is  really  using 
force  ;  yes,  Mr.  Dodd,  this  is  using  force.  Somebody 
has  told  you  that  my  sex  yield  when  downright  compuL 


476  I.OVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG. 

sion  is  used.  It  is  true.  And  the  more  ungenerous  to 
apply  it."     And  slie  melted  into  a  few  placid  tears. 

David  did  not  know  this  sign  of  yielding  in  a  woman, 
and  he  groaned  at  the  sight  of  them,  and  hung  his 
head. 

"  Advise  me  what  I  had  better  do  ! " 

To  this  singular  proposal  David,  listening  to  the  ill 
advice  of  the  fiend  generosity,  groaned  out,  "  Why  should 
you  be  tormented,  and  made  cry  ?  " 

"  Why,  indeed  ?  " 

"Nothing  can  change  me.  I  advise  you  to  cut  it 
short." 

"■  Oh !  do  you  ?  very  well.  Why  did  you  say  '  poor 
Eve '  ?  " 

"  Ah,  poor  thing  !  she  cried  for  joy  when  she  read  your 
letter,  but  when  I  go  back  she  will  cry  for  grief,"  and 
his  voice  faltered. 

"  I  will  cut  this  short,  Mr.  Dodd :  give  me  that  paper." 

"  W^hich  ?  " 

"The  wicked  one,  where  you  refuse  my  Rajah." 

David  hesitated. 

"You  are  no  gentleman,  sir,  if  you  refuse  a  lady  — 
give  it  me  this  instant,"  cried  Lucy,  so  haughtily  and 
imperiously  that  David  did  not  know  her,  and  gave  her 
the  letter  with  a  half-cowed  air. 

She  took  it,  and  with  both  her  supple  white  hands  tore 
it  with  insulting  precision  exactly  in  half.  "There,  sir; 
and  there,  sir  "  (exactly  in  four) ;  "  and  there  "  (in  eight 
with  malicious  exactness) ;  "  and  there "  and  though  it 
seemed  impossible  to  effect  another  separation,  yet  the 
taper  fingers  and  a  resolute  will  reduced  it  to  tiny  bits. 
She  then  made  a  gesture  to  throw  them  in  the  fire,  and 
thought  better  of  it,  and  held  them. 

David  looked  on,  almost  amused  at  this  zealous  demo- 
lition of  a  thing  he  could  so  easily  replace.     He  said, 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  477 

part  sadly,  part  doggedly,  part  apologetically,  "  I  can 
write  another." 

"  But  you  will  not.     Oh,  Mr.  Dodd  ;  don't  you  see  ?  " 

He  looked  up  at  her  eagerly.  To  his  surprise,  her 
haughty  eagle  look  had  gone,  and  she  seemed  a  jjitying 
goddess,  all  tenderness  and  benignity ;  only  her  mantling, 
burning  cheek  showed  her  to  be  woman. 

She  faltered  in  answer  to  his  wild  eager  look,  "  Was 
I  ever  so  rude  before  ?  what  right  have  I  to  tear  your 
letter,  unless  I "  — 

The  characteristic  full  stop,  and  above  all,  the  heaving 
bosom,  the  melting  eye,  and  the  red  cheek  were  enough 
even  for  poor  simple  David.  Heaven  seemed  to  open 
on  him.  His  burning  kisses  fell  on  the  sweet  hands 
that  had  torn  his  death-warrant.  No  resistance.  She 
blushed  higher,  but  smiled.  His  powerful  arm  curled 
round  her.  She  looked  a  little  scared,  but  not  much. 
He  kissed  her  sweet  cheek :  the  blush  spread  to  her 
very  forehead  at  that,  but  no  resistance.  As  the  winged 
and  rapid  bird,  if  her  feathers  be  but  touched  with 
a  speck  of  bird-lime,  loses  all  power  of  flight,  so  it 
seemed  as  if  that  one  kiss,  the  first  a  stranger  had  ever 
pressed  on  Lucy's  virgin  cheek,  paralyzed  her  eel-like 
and  evasive  powers  ;  under  it  her  whole  supple  frame 
seemed  to  yield  as  David  drew  her  closer  and  closer  to 
him,  till  she  hid  her  forehead  and  wet  eyelashes  on  his 
shoulder,  and  murmured  — 

''  How  could  I  let  you  be  unhappy  ?  " 

Neither  spoke  awhile.  Each  felt  the  other's  heart 
beat:  and  David  drank  that  ecstasy  of  silent,  delirious 
bliss,  which  comes  to  great  hearts  once  in  a  life. 

Had  he  not  earned  it  ?  " 


478  LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

By  some  mighty  instinct  Mrs.  AVilson  knew  when  to 
come  in.  Slie  came  to  the  door  just  one  minute  after 
Lucy  had  capitulated  ;  and  turning  the  handle,  but  with- 
out opening  the  door,  bawled  some  fresh  directions  to 
Jenny :  this  was  to  enable  Lucy  to  smooth  ruffled  feath- 
ers, if  necessary,  and  look  Agnes.  But  Lucy's  actual 
contact  with  that  honest  heart  seemed  to  have  made  a 
change  in  her :  instead  of  doing  Agnes,  she  confronted 
(after  a  fashion  of  her  own)  the  situation  she  had  so 
long  evaded. 

"  Oh,  nurse  !  "  she  cried,  and  wreathed  her  arms  round 
her. 

"Don't  cry,  my  lamb  !     I  can  guess." 

'*  Cry  ? —  oh,  no !  I  would  not  pay  him  so  poor  a  com- 
pliment. It  was  to  say :  '  Dear  nurse,  you  must  love  Mr. 
Dodd  as  well  as  me  now.' " 

The  dame  received  this  indirect  intelligence  with 
hearty  delight. 

"  That  won't  cost  me  much  trouble,"  said  she.  "  He 
is  the  one  I'd  have  picked  out  of  all  England  for  my 
nursling.  When  a  man  is  kind  to  an  old  woman,  it  is  a 
good  sign ;  but,  la !  his  face  is  enough  for  me  —  who 
ever  saw  guile  in  sucli  a  face  as  that  ?  Aren't  ye  hungry 
by  this  time  ?    Dinner  will  be  ready  in  about  a  minute." 

"  Nurse,  can  I  speak  to  you  a  word  ?  " 

"Yes,  sure." 

It  was  to  inquire  whether  she  would  invite  Miss  Dodd. 

"  She  loves  her  brother  very  dearly,  and  it  is  cruel  to 
separate  them.  Mr.  Dodd  will  be  nearly  always  here 
now  —  will  he  not  ?  " 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LOKG.  479 

"  You  may  take  your  davy  of  that." 

In  a  very  few  minutes  a  note  was  written,  and  Mrs. 
Wilson's  eldest  son,  a  handsome  yovmg  farmer,  started 
in  the  covered  cart  with  his  mother's  orders  "  to  bring 
the  young  lady,  willy-nilly." 

The  holy  allies  both  openly  scouted  Kenealy's  advice ; 
and  both  slyly  stepped  down  into  the  town  and  acted  on 
it.  Mr.  Fountain  then  returned  to  Font  Abbey.  Their 
two  advertisements  appeared  side  by  side,  and  exas- 
perated them. 

After  dinner,  Mrs.  Wilson  sent  Lucy  and  David  out  to 
take  a  walk.  At  the  gate  they  met  with  a  little  inter- 
ruption —  a  carriage  drove  up ;  the  coachman  touched  his 
hat,  and  Mrs.  Bazalgette  put  her  head  out  of  the  window. 

"  I  came  to  take  you  back,  love." 

David  quaked. 

"  Thank  you,  aunt !  but  it  is  not  worth  while,  now." 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  casting  a  venomous  look 
on  David  ;  "  I  am  too  late,  am  I  ?     Poor  girl ! " 

Lucy  soothed  her  aunt  with  the  information  that  she 
was  much  happier  now  than  she  had  been  for  a  long 
time  past.     For  this  was  a  fencing-match  beginning. 

"  May  I  have  a  word  in  private  with  my  niece  ?  "  in- 
quired Mrs.  Bazalgette,  bitterly,  of  David. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  David,  stoutly ;  but  his  heart  turned 
sick  as  he  retired.     Lucy  saw  the  look  of  anxiety. 

"  Lucy,"  said  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  "  you  left  me  because 
you  are  averse  to  matrimony,  and  I  urged  you  to  it ;  of 
course,  with  those  seiitiments,  you  have  no  idea  of 
marrying  that  man  there  !  I  don't  suspect  you  of  such 
hypocrisy ;  and,  therefore,  I  say  come  home  Avith  me, 
and  you  shall  marry  nobody  :  your  inclination  shall  be 
free  as  air." 


480  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

"Aunt,"  said  Lucy,  demurely,  "why  didn't  you  come 
yesterday  ?  I  always  said,  those  who  loved  me  best 
would  find  me  first;  and  you  let  Mr.  Dodd  come  first. 
I  am  so  sorry." 

"Then  your  pretended  aversion  to  marriage  was  all 
hypocrisy  —  was  it  ?  " 

Lucy  informed  her  that  marriage  was  a  contract,  and 
the  contracting  parties  two,  and  no  more  —  the  bride  and 
bridegroom  ;  and  that  to  sign  a  contract  without  reading 
it  is  silly,  and  meaning  not  to  keep  it  is  wicked.  "  So," 
said  she,  "  I  read  the  contract  over  in  the  prayer-book 
this  morning,  for  fear  of  accidents." 

My  reader  may,  perhaps,  be  amused  at  this  admission ; 
but  Mrs.  Bazalgette  was  disgusted,  and  inquired,  "  What 
stuff  is  the  girl  talking  now  ?  " 

"  It  is  called  common  sense.  Well,  I  find  the  contract 
is  one  I  can  carry  out  with  Mr.  Dodd,  and  with  nobody 
else.  I  can  love  him  a  little ;  can  honor  him  a  great 
deal ;  and  obey  him  entirely.  I  begin  now.  There  he 
is  ;  and  if  you  feel  you  cannot  show  him  the  courtesy  of 
making  him  one  in  our  conversation,  permit  me  to  retire 
and  relieve  his  solitude." 

"  Mighty  fine ;  and  if  you  don't  instantly  leave  him 
and  come  home,  you  shall  never  enter  my  house  again." 

"  Unless  sickness  or  trouble  should  visit  your  house  ; 
and  then  you  will  send  for  me  and  I  shall  come." 

3Irs.  Bazalgette  (to  the  coachman).     "  Home." 

Lucy  made  her  a  polite  obeisance,  to  keep  up  appear- 
ances before  the  servants  and  the  farm  people,  who  were 
gaping.  She,  whose  breeding  was  inferior,  flounced  into 
a  corner  without  returning  it.     The  carriage  drove  off. 

David  inquired,  with  great  anxiety,  whether  some- 
thing had  not  been  said  to  vex  her  ? 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  replied  Lucy,  calmly.  "  Little 
things  and  little  people  can  no  longer  vex  me.     I  hi)  ve 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME   LONG.  481 

great  duties  to  think  of,  —  and  —  a  great  heart  to  share 
them  with  me.  Let  us  walk  towards  Harrowden ;  we 
may  perhaps  meet  a  friend." 

Sure  enough,  just  on  this  side  Harrowden,  they  met 
the  covered  cart,  and  Eve  in  it,  radiant  with  unexpected 
deliglit.  The  engaged  ones  —  for  such  they  had  become 
in  those  two  miles  —  mounted  the  cart,  and  the  two  men 
sat  in  front,  and  Eve  and  Lucy  intertwined  at  the  back, 
and  opened  their  hearts  to  each  other. 

Eve.     "  And  you  have  taken  off  the  paper,  1  see." 
Lunjj,     "  What  paper  ?     It  was  no  longer  applicable." 


482  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

I  HAVE  already  noticed  that  Lucy,  after  capitulation^ 
laid  down  her  arms  gracefully  and  sensibly.  And,  being 
asked  to  name  a  very  early  day  for  the  wedding,  she 
opposed  no  childish  delay  to  David's  happiness  ;  for  the 
Rajah  was  to  sail  in  six  weeks  and  separate  them.  So 
the  license  was  got,  and  the  wedding-day  came  ;  and  all 
Lucy's  previous  study  of  the  contract  did  not  prevent 
her  from  being  deeply  affected  by  the  solemn  words  that 
joined  her  to  David  in  holy  matrimony.  She  bore  up, 
though,  stoutly  ;  for  her  sense  of  propriety  and  courtesy 
forbade  her  to  cloud  a  festivity.  But  when  the  post- 
chaise  came,  to  convey  bride  and  bridegroom  on  their 
little  tour,  and  she  had  to  leave  Mrs.  Wilson  and  Eve 
for  a  whole  week,  the  tears  would  not  be  denied  ;  and,  to 
show  how  perilous  a  road  matrimony  is,  these  two  risked 
a  misunderstanding  on  their  wedding-day :  thus  ;  Lucy, 
all  alone  in  the  post-chaise  with  David,  dissolved ;  a 
perfect  Niobe,  gushing  at  short  intervals.  Sometimes  a 
faint  explanation  gurgled  out  with  the  tears.  "Poor 
Eve  !  her  dear  little  face  was  working  so,  not  to  cry. 
Oh  !  oh !  I  should  not  have  minded  so  much  if  she  had 
cried  right  out."  Then  again,  it  was,  "  Poor  Mrs.  Wil- 
son, I  was  only  a  week  with  her,  for  all  her  love.  I  have 
made  a  c — at's-p — paw  of  her,  oh  !  " 

Then  again,  ^'  Uncle  Bazalgette  had  never  noticed  us  ; 
he  thinks  me  a  h — hypocrite."  But  quite  as  often  they 
flowed  without  any  accompanying  reason. 

Now  if  David  had  been  a  poetaster,  he  would  have 
said,  "  Why  these  tears  ?  she  has  got  me  !     Am  I  not 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG.  483 

more  than  an  equivalent  to  these  puny  considerations  ?  " 
and  all  this  salt  water  would  have  burnt  into  his  vanity 
like  liquid  caustic.  If  he  had  been  a  poet  he  would  have 
said,  "  Alas  !  I  make  her  unhappy  whom  I  hoped  to 
make  happy,"  and  with  this  he  would  have  been  sad,  and 
so  prolonged  her  sadness,  and  perhaps  ended  by  sulking. 
But  David  had  two  good  things,  a  kind  heart,  and  a  skin 
not  too  thin ;  and  such  are  the  men  that  make  women 
happy  in  spite  of  their  weak  nerves  and  craven  spirits. 

He  gave  her  time ;  soothed  her  kindly ;  but  did  not 
check  her  weakness  dead  short. 

At  last  my  Lady  Chesterfield  said  to  him,  penitently, 
''  This  is  a  poor  compliment  to  you,  Mr.  Dodd ;  "  and 
then  Niobized  again,  partly,  I  believe,  with  regret  that 
she  was  behaving  so  discourteously. 

"  It  is  very  natural,"  said  David,  kindly ;  "  but  we 
shall  soon  see  them  all  again,  you  know." 

Presently  she  looked  in  his  radiant  face,  with  wet 
eyes,  but  a  half  smile.  "  You  amaze  me ;  you  don't  seem 
the  least  terrified  at  what  we  have  done." 

"  Not  a  bit,"  cried  David,  like  a  cheerful  horn ;  "  I 
have  been  in  worse  peril  than  this,  and  so  have  you. 
Our  troubles  are  all  over ;  I  see  nothing  but  happiness 
ahead."  He  then  drew  a  sunny  picture  of  their  future 
life,  to  all  which  she  listened  demurely ;  and,  in  short, 
he  treated  her  little  feminine  distress  as  the  summer 
sun  treats  a  mist  that  tries  to  damp  it.  He  soon  dried 
her  up,  and  when  they  reached  their  journey's  end  she 
was  as  bright  as  himself. 


484  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

They  had  been  married  a  week.  A  slight  change,  but 
quite  distinct  to  an  observer  of  her  sex,  shone  in  Lucy's 
face  and  manner.  A  new  beauty  was  in  her  face  —  the 
bloom  of  wifehood.  Her  eyes,  though  not  less  modest, 
were  less  timid  than  before ;  and  now  they  often  met 
David's  full,  and  seemed  to  sip  affection  at  them.  When 
he  came  near  her,  her  lovely  frame  showed  itself  con- 
scious of  his  approach.  His  queen,  though  he  did  not 
know  it,  was  his  vassal.  They  sat  at  table  at  a  little 
inn,  twenty  miles  from  Harrowden,  for  they  were  on 
their  return  to  Mrs.  Wilson.  Lucy  went  to  the  window, 
while  David  settled  the  bill.  At  the  window  it  is  prob- 
able she  had  her  own  thoughts ;  for  she  glided  up 
behind  David,  and  fanning  his  hair  with  her  cool, 
honeyed  breath,  she  said,  in  the  tone  of  a  humble  in- 
quirer seeking  historical  or  antiquarian  information,  "  I 
want  to  ask  you  a  question,  David : 

"  Are  you  happy  too  ?  " 

David  answered  promptly,  but  inarticulately.  So  his 
reply  is  lost  to  j)osterity. 

But  conjecture  survives. 

One  disappointment  awaited  Lucy  at  Mrs.  Wilson's. 
There  were  several  letters  for  both  David  and  her;  but 
none  from  Mr,  Bazalgette.  She  knew  by  that,  she  had 
lost  his  respect.  She  could  not  blame  him,  for  she  saw 
how  like  disingenuousness  and  hypocrisy  her  conduct 
must  look  to  him.  "  I  must  trust  to  time  and  oppor- 
tunity," she  said,  with  a  sigh.  She  proposed  to  David  to 
read  her  letters,  and  she  would  read  his.     He  thought 


LOVE  ME   LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  485 

this  a  droll  idea;  but  nothing  that  identified  him  with 
his  royal  vassal  came  amiss.  The  first  letter  of  Lucy's 
David  opened  was  from  Mr.  Talboys :  — 

Dear  Madam,  —  I  have  heard  of  your  marriage  with  Mr. 
Dodd,  and  desire  to  offer  both  you  and  him  my  cordial  con- 
gratulations. 

I  feel  under  considerable  obligation  to  Mr.  Dodd :  and, 
should  my  house  ever  have  a  mistress,  I  hope  she  will  be  able 
to  temjjt  you  both  to  renew  our  acquaintance  under  my  roof, 
and  so  give  me  once  more  that  opportunity  I  have  too  little 
improved,  of  showing  you  both  the  sincere  respect  and  grati- 
tude, with  which  I  am. 

Your  very  faithful  servant, 

Reginald  Talboys. 

Lucy  was  delighted  with  this  note.  "  Who  ssijs  it  is 
nothing  to  have  been  born  a  gentleman  ?  " 

The  second  letter  was  from  Eeginald  2 ;  and,  if  I  only 
give  the  reader  a  fragment  of  it,  I  still  expect  his  grati- 
tude, all  one  as  if  I  had  disinterred  a  fragment  of 
Orpheus  or  Tiresias. 

Dear  lucy. 

It  is  very  ungust  of  you  to  go  and 
Mary  other  peeple  wen  you 
Promised  me.     but  it  is  mr.  dod. 
So  i  dont  so  much  mind  i  like 
Mr.  dod.  he  is  a  due.  and  they  all 
Say  i  am  too  litle  and  jane  says 
Sailors  always  end  by  been 
Drouned  so  it  is  only  put  off. 
But  3'ou  reely  must  keep  your 
Promise  to  me.  wen  i  am  biger 
And  mr.  Dod  is  droimed.     my 
Ginnypigs 

Here  a  white  hand  drew  the  pleasing  composition  out 
of  David's  hand  and  dropped  it  on  the  floor ;  two  piteous, 


486  LOVE  ME  LITTLE,  LOVE  ME  LONG. 

tearful  eyes  were  bent  on  him,  and  a  white  arm  went 
tenderly  round  his  neck  to  save  him  from  the  threatened 
fate. 

At  this  sight,  Eve  pounced  on  the  horrid  scroll,  and 
hurled  it,  by  general  acclamation,  into  the  flames. 

Thus  that  sweet  infant  revenged  himself,  and,  like 
Samson,  hit  hardest  of  all  at  parting ;  in  tears  and 
flames  vanished  from  written  fiction;  and,  I  conclude, 
went  back  to  Gavarni. 

There  was  a  letter  from  ]\Ir.  Fountain  —  all  fire  and 
fury.  She  was  never  to  write  or  speak  to  him  any  more. 
He  was  now  looking  out  for  a  youth  of  good  family  to 
adopt  and  make  a  Fontaine  of  by  act  of  Parliament,  etc., 
etc.     A  fusillade  of  written  thunderbolts. 

There  was  another  from  Mrs.  Bazalgette,  written  with 
cream  —  of  tartar,  and  oil  —  of  vitriol.  She  forgave  her 
niece,  and  wished  her  every  happiness  it  was  possible  for 
a  3'oung  person  to  enjoy  who  had  deceived  her  relations 
and  married  beneath  her.  She  felt  pity  rather  than 
anger ;  and  there  was  no  reason  why  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Dodd 
should  not  visit  her  house,  as  far  as  she  was  concerned. 
But  Mr.  Bazalgette  was  a  man  of  very  stern  rectitude  ; 
and,  as  she  could  not  make  sure  that  he  would  treat  them 
with  common  courtesy  after  what  had  passed,  she  thought 
a  temporary  separation  might  be  the  better  course  for  all 
parties. 

I  may  as  well  take  this  opportunity  of  saying,  that 
these  two  egotists  carried  out  the  promise  of  their  respec- 
tive letters.  Mr.  Fountain  blustered  for  a  year  or  two, 
and  then  showed  manifest  signs  of  relenting. 

Mrs.  Bazalgette  kept  cool,  and  wrote,  in  oils,  twice  a 
year  to  Mrs.  Dodd. 

"Et  gardait  tout  doucement  une  haine  irreconciliable." 

Lucy  had  to  answer  these  letters.  In  signing  one  of 
them  she  took  a  look  at  her  new  signature,  and  smiled. 


LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG.  487 

"What  a  dear  quaint  littlp:  name  mine  is,"  said 
SHE.     "Lucy  Dodd,"  and  she  kissed  the  signature. 

A    MONTH    AFTER    MARRIAGE. 

The  Dodds  took  a  house  in  London,  and  Eve  came  up 
to  them.  David  was  nearly  all  day  superintending  the 
ship,  but  spent  the  whole  evening  with  his  wife  at  home. 
Zeal  always  produces  irritation.  The  servant  that  is 
anxious  for  his  employer's  interest  is  sure  to  get  in  a 
passion  or  two  with  the  deadness,  indifference,  and  heart- 
less injustice  of  the  genuine  hireling.  So  David  Avas 
often  irritated  and  worried,  and  in  hot  water,  while 
superintending  the  Rajah;  but  the  moment  he  saw  his 
own  door,  away  he  threw  it  all,  and  came  into  the  house 
like  a  jocund  sunbeam.  Nothing  wins  a  woman  more 
than  this,  if  she  is  already  inclined  in  the  man's  favor. 
As  the  hour  that  brought  David  approached,  Lucy's 
spirits  and  Eve's  used  both  to  rise  by  anticipation, 
and  that  anticipation  his  hearty  genial  temper  never 
disappointed. 

One  day  Lucy  came  to  David  for  information.  "  David, 
there  is  a  singular  change  in  me.  It  is  since  we  came 
to  London.  I  used  to  be  a  placid  girl:  now  I  am  a 
fidget." 

"  I  don't  see  it,  love." 

"  Ko :  how  should  you,  dear  ?  It  always  goes  away 
when  you  come.  Now,  listen !  When  five  o'clock  comes 
near,  I  turn  hot  and  restless,  and  can  hardly  keep  from 
the  window ;  and  if  you  are  five  minutes  after  your 
time,  I  really  cannot  keep  from  the  window ;  and  my 
nerves  se  crisjjPMt,  and  I  cannot  sit  still,  and  it  is  very 
foolish :  what  does  it  mean  ?  can  you  tell  me  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  can.  I  am  just  the  same  when  people 
are  unpunctual;  it  is  inexcusable,  and  nothing  is  so 
vexing.     I  ought  to  be  "  — 


488  LOVE   ME   LITTLE,    LOVE   ME   LONG. 

'•'Oh!  David,  what  nonsense  !  it  is  not  that.  Could  I 
ever  be  vexed  with  my  David  ?  " 

"  Well,  then,  there  is  Eve,  we'll  ask  her." 
"  If    you    dare,    sir ! "    and    Mrs.    Dodd    was    carna- 
tion. 

FOUR  YEARS  AFTER  THE  ABOVE  EVENTS. 

Two  ladies  were  gossiping. 

1st  Lady.  "  What  I  like  about  Mrs.  Dodd  is  that  she 
is  so  truthful." 

2d  Lady.     "  Oh  !  is  she  ?  " 

1st  Lady.  "  Yes ;  she  is,  indeed !  Certainly,  she  is 
not  a  woman  that  blurts  out  unpleasant  things  without 
any  necessity :  she  is  kind  and  considerate  in  word  and 
deed ;  but  she  is  always  true.  She  has  got  an  eye  that 
meets  you  like  a  little  lion's  eye,  and  a  tongue  without 
guile." 

Two  Qui  his  were  talking  in  Leadenhall  Street. 

1st  Qui  hi     "  Well,  so  you  are  going  out  again." 

2d  Qui  hi.  ''Yes;  they  have  offered  me  a  commis- 
sionership.  I  must  make  another  lac  for  the  chil- 
dren." 

Is^  Qui  hi.     "  When  do  you  sail  ?  " 

2d  Qui  hi.  "  By  the  first  good  ship,  I  should  like  a 
good  ship." 

1st  Qui  hi.  "Well,  then,  j'ou  had  better  go  out  with 
Gentleman  Dodd." 

2d  Qui  hi.  "  Gentleman  Dodd  ?  I  should  prefer 
Sailor  Dodd.     I  don't  want  to  founder  off  the  Cape." 

1st  Qui  hi.  "  Oh !  but  this  is  a  first-rate  sailor,  and  a 
first-rate  fellow  altogether," 

2d  Qui  hi.  "  Then,  why  do  you  call  him  Gentleman 
Dodd  ?  " 

1st  Qui  hi.     "Oh,  because  he   is   so   polite.     Won't 


LOVE  ME  LITTLE,   LOVE  ME  LONG.  480 

stand  an  oath  within  hearing  of  his  quarter-deck ;  and 
particularly  kind  and  courteous  to  the  passengers,  espe- 
cially to  the  ladies.     His  ship  is  always  full." 

2d  Qui  hi.     "Is  it?  then  I'll  go  out  with  *Gei.tleman 
Dodd.' " 


490  LOVE   ME  LITTLE,   LOVE   ME   LONG. 


TO   MY   MALE   KEADERS. 

I  SEE  with  some  surprise  that  there  still  linger  in  the 
field  of  letters,  writers  who  think  that,  in  fiction,  when 
a  personage  speaks  wdth  an  air  of  conviction,  the  senti- 
ments must  be  the  author's  own.  (When  two  of  his 
personages  give  each  other  the  lie,  w^hich  represents  the 
author?  both?) 

I  invite  you  to  shun  this  error  :  for  instance,  do  not  go 
and  take  Eve  Dodd's  opinion  of  my  heroine,  or  Mrs. 
Bazalgette's,  for  mine. 

Miss  Dodd,  in  particular,  however  epigrammatic  she 
may  appear,  is  shallow :  her  criticism  pecTie  par  la  base. 
She  talks  as  if  young  girls  w^ere  in  the  habit  of  looking 
into  their  own  minds,  like  little  metaphysicians,  and 
knowing  all  that  goes  on  there  :  but,  on  the  contrary, 
this  is  just  what  women  in  general  don't  do,  and  young 
Avomen  can't  do. 

No  male  will  understand  Lucy  Fountain,  who  does  not 
take  "  instinct "  and  "  self-deception  "  into  the  account. 
But  with  those  two  clews  you  cannot,  I  think,  fail  to 
unravel  her ;  and  will,  I  hope,  thank  me  in  your  hearts 
for  leaving  you  something  to  study,  and  not  clogging  a 
languid  narrative  with  a  mass  of  comment  and  explana- 
tion. 


CHRISTIE    JOH]SrSTO:NE, 


CHEISTIE    JOHl^STOIvrE. 


CHAPTER  T. 


Viscount  Ipsden,  aged  twenty-five,  income  eighteen 
thousand  pounds  per  year,  constitution  equine,  was  un- 
happy !  This  might  surprise  some  people ;  but  there 
are  certain  blessings,  the  non-possession  of  which  makes 
more  people  discontented  than  their  possession  renders 
happy. 

Foremost  among  these  are  "  Wealth  and  Rank : "  were 
I  to  add  "  Beauty"  to  the  list,  such  men  and  women  as  go 
by  fact,  not  by  conjecture,  would  hardly  contradict  me. 

The  fortunate  man  is  he  who,  born  poor,  or  nobody, 
works  gradually  up  to  wealth  and  consideration,  and 
having  got  them,  dies  before  he  finds  they  were  not 
worth  so  much  trouble. 

Lord  Ipsden  started  with  nothing  to  win ;  and  natur- 
ally lived  for  amusement.  Now  nothing  is  so  sure  to 
cease  to  please,  as  pleasure,  —  to  amuse,  as  amusement : 
unfortunately  for  himself  he  could  not  at  this  period  of 
his  life,  warm  to  politics ;  so,  having  exhausted  his 
London  clique,  he  rolled  through  the  cities  of  Europe  in 
his  carriage,  and  cruised  its  shores  in  his  yacht.  But  he 
was  not  happy ! 

He  was  a  man  of  taste,  and  sipped  the  arts  and  other 
knowledge,  as  he  sauntered  Europe  round. 


4  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

But  he  was  not  happy. 

"  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  said  Vennuye. 

"Distinguish  yourself,"  said  one. 

"  How  ?  " 

No  immediate  answer. 

"  Take  a  prima  donna  over,"  said  another. 

Well,  the  man  took  a  prima  donna  over,  which  scolded 
its  maid  from  the  Alps  to  Dover  in  the  lingua  Toscana 
without  the  hocca  Romana,  and  sang  in  London  without 
applause ;  because  what  goes  down  at  La  Scala  does  not 
generally  go  down  at  11  Teatro  della  Regina,  Hay- 
inarket. 

So,  then  my  lord  strolled  into  Russia  ;  there  he  drove 
a  pair  of  horses,  one  of  whom  put  his  head  down  and 
did  the  work ;  the  other  pranced  and  caprioled  along- 
side, all  unconscious  of  the  trace.  He  seemed  happier 
than  his  working  brother;  but  the  biped,  whose  career 
corresponded  witli  this  playful  animal's,  was  not  happy. 

At  length  an  event  occurred  that  promised  to  play  an 
adagio  upon  Lord  Ipsden's  mind.  He  fell  in  love  with 
Lady  Barbara  Sinclair ;  and  he  had  no  sooner  done  this 
than  he  felt,  as  we  are  all  apt  to  do  on  similar  occasions, 
how  wise  a  thing  he  had  done. 

Besides  a  lovely  person.  Lady  Barbara  Sinclair  had  a 
character  that  he  saw  would  make  him  ;  and,  in  fact. 
Lady  Barbara  Sinclair  was,  to  an  inexperienced  eye,  the 
exact  opposite  of  Lord  Ipsden. 

Her  mental  pulse  was  as  plethoric  as  his  was  languid. 

She  was  as  enthusiastic  as  he  was  cool. 

She  took  a  warm  interest  in  everything. 

She  believed  that  Government  is  a  science,  and  one 
that  goes  with  copia  verborum. 

She  believed  that,  in  England,  Government  is  admin- 
istered, not  by  a  set  of  men  whose  salaries  range  from 
eighty  to  five  hundred  pounds  a  year,  and  whose  names 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  5 

are  never  heard,  but  by  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury, 
and  other  great  men. 

Hence  she  inferred,  that  it  matters  very  much  to  all 
of  us  in  whose  hand  is  the  rudder  of  that  state  vessel 
which  goes  down  the  wind  of  public  opinion  without 
veering  a  point,  let  who  will  be  at  the  helm. 

She  also  cared  very  much  who  was  the  new  bishop. 
Religion,  if  not  religion,  theology,  would  be  affected 
thereby. 

She  was  enthusiastic  about  poets ;  imagined  their 
verse  to  be  some  sort  of  clew  to  their  characters,  and 
so  on. 

She  had  other  theories,  which  will  be  indicated  by 
and  by ;  at  present  it  is  enough  to  say  that  her  mind  was 
young,  healthy,  somewhat  original,  full  of  fire  and  faith, 
and  empty  of  experience. 

Lord  Ipsden  loved  her  !  it  was  easy  to  love  her. 

First,  there  was  not,  in  the  whole  range  of  her  mind 
and  body,  one  grain  of  affectation  of  any  sort. 

She  was  always,  in  point  of  fact,  under  the  influence 
of  some  male  mind  or  other,  generally  some  writer. 
What  young  woman  is  not,  more  or  less,  a  mirror  ?  But 
she  never  imitated  or  affected ;  she  was  always  herself, 
by  whomsoever  colored. 

Then  she  was  beautiful  and  eloquent ;  much  too  high- 
bred to  put  a  restraint  upon  her  natural  manner,  she  was 
often  more  naive,  and  even  brusque,  than  your  would-be 
aristocrats  dare  to  be  ;  but  what  a  charming  abruptness 
hers  was ! 

I  do  not  excel  in  descriptions,  and  yet  I  want  to  give 
you  some  carnal  idea  of  a  certain  peculiarity  and  charm 
this  lady  possessed ;  permit  me  to  call  a  sister  art  to  my 
aid. 

There  has  lately  stepped  upon  the  French  stage  a 
charming  personage,  whose  manner  is  quite  free  from 


6  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

the  affectation  that  soils  nearly  all  French  actresses  — 
Mademoiselle  Madeleine  Brohan  !  When  you  see  this 
young  lady  play  Mademoiselle  La  Segliere,  you  see  high- 
bred sensibility  personified,  and  you  see  something  like 
Lady  Barbara  Sinclair. 

She  was  a  connection  of  Lord  Ipsden's,  but  they  had 
not  met  for  two  years,  when  they  encountered  each  other 
in  Paris  just  before  the  commencement  of  this  "Dra- 
matic Story,"  "  Novel "  by  courtesy. 

The  month  he  spent  in  Paris,  near  her,  was  a  bright 
month  to  Lord  Ipsden.  A  by-stander  would  not  have 
gathered,  from  his  manner,  tliat  he  was  warmly  in  love 
with  this  lady,  but  for  all  that,  his  lordship  was  gradu- 
ally uncoiling  himself,  and  gracefully,  quietly,  basking 
in  the  rays  of  Barbara  Sinclair. 

He  was  also  just  beginning  to  take  an  interest  in  sub- 
jects of  the  day  —  ministries,  flat  paintings,  controver- 
sial novels,  Cromwell's  spotless  integrity,  etc.  —  why 
not  ?     They  interested  her. 

Suddenly  the  lady  and  her  family  returned  to  England. 
Lord  Ipsden,  who  was  going  to  Rome,  came  to  England 
instead. 

She  had  not  been  five  days  in  London,  before  she  made 
her  preparations  to  spend  six  months  in  Perthshire. 

This  brought  matters  to  a  climax. 

Lord  Ipsden  proposed  in  form. 

Lady  Barbara  was  surprised  ;  she  had  not  viewed  his 
graceful  attentions  in  that  light  at  all.  However,  she 
answered  by  letter  his  proposal  which  had  been  made  by 
letter. 

After  a  few  of  those  courteous  words  a  lady  always 
bestows  on  a  gentleman  who  has  offered  her  the  highest 
compliment  any  man  has  it  in  his  power  to  offer  any 
woman,  she  came  to  the  point  in  the  following  charac- 
teristic manner : 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  7 

The  man  I  many  must  have  two  things,  virtues  and  vices 
—  3'ou  have  neither :  you  do  nothing,  and  never  will  do  any- 
thing but  sketch  and  hum  tunes,  and  dance  and  dangle  :  forget 
this  folly  the  day  after  to-morrow,  my  dear  Ipsden,  and  if  I 
may  ask  a  favor  of  one  to  whom  I  refuse  that  which  would 
not  be  a  kindness,  be  still  good  friends  with  her  who  will 
always  be 

Your  affectionate  cousin, 

Barbara  Sinclair. 

Soon  after  this  effusion  she  vanished  into  Perthshire, 
leaving  her  cousin  stunned  by  a  blow  which  she  thought 
would  be  only  a  scratch  to  one  of  his  character. 

Lord  Ipsden  relapsed  into  greater  listlessness  than 
before  he  had  cherished  these  crushed  hopes.  The  Avorld 
now  became  really  dark  and  blank  to  him.  He  was  too 
languid  to  go  anywhere  or  do  anything;  a  republican 
might  have  compared  the  settled  expression  of  his  hand- 
some, hopeless  face,  with  that  of  most  day-laborers  of 
the  same  age,  and  moderated  his  envy  of  the  rich  and 
titled. 

At  last  he  became  so  pale  as  well  as  languid,  that  Mr. 
Saunders  interfered. 

Saunders  was  a  model  valet  and  factotum ;  who  had 
been  with  his  master  ever  since  he  left  Eton,  and  had 
made  himself  necessary  to  him  in  their  journeys. 

The  said  Saunders  was  really  an  invaluable  servant, 
and  with  a  world  of  obsequiousness,  contrived  to  have 
his  own  way  on  most  occasions.  He  had,  I  believe,  only 
one  great  Aveakness,  that  of  imagining  a  beau-ideal  of 
aristocracy,  and  then  out-doing  it  in  the  person  of  John 
Saunders. 

Now  this  Saunders  was  human,  and  could  not  be  eight 
years  with  this  young  gentleman  and  not  take  some  little 
interest  in  him.  He  was  flunky,  and  took  a  great 
interest  in  him,  as  stepping-stone  to  his  own  greatness. 


8  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

So  when  he  saw  him  turning  pale  and  thin,  and  reading 
one  letter  fifty  times,  he  speculated  and  inquired  what 
was  the  matter.  He  brought  the  intellect  of  Mr. 
Saunders  to  bear  on  the  question  at  the  following  angle-. 

"  Now  if  I  was  a  young  lord  with  twenty  thousand 
pounds  a  year,  and  all  the  world  at  my  feet,  what  would 
make  me  in  this  way  ? 

"  Why,  the  liver  !     Nothing  else. 

"  And  that  is  what  is  wrong  with  him,  you  may  de- 
pend." 

This  conclusion  arrived  at,  Mr.  Saunders  coolly  wrote 
his  convictions  to  Dr.  Aberford,  and  desired  that  gentle- 
man's immediate  attention  to  the  case.  An  hour  or  two 
later,  he  glided  into  his  lord's  room,  not  without  some 
secret  trepidation,  no  trace  of  which  appeared  on  his 
face  —  he  pulled  a  long  histrionic  countenance.  "My 
lord,"  said  he,  in  soft,  melancholy  tones,  "your  lord- 
ship's melancholy  state  of  health  gives  me  great  anxi- 
ety ;  and  with  many  apologies  to  your  lordship,  the 
doctor  is  sent  for,  my  lord." 

"  Why,  Saunders,  you  are  mad ;  there  is  nothing  the 
matter  with  me." 

"  I  beg  your  lordship's  pardon,  your  lordship  is  very 
ill,  and  Dr.  Aberford  sent  for." 

'  You  may  go,  Saunders." 

"  Yes,  my  lord.  I  couldn't  help  it ,  I've  outstepped 
my  duty,  my  lord,  but  I  could  not  stand  quiet  and  see 
your  lordship  dying  by  inches."  Here  Mr.  S.  put  a  cam- 
bric handkerchief  artistically  to  his  eyes,  and  glided  out, 
having  disarmed  censure. 

Lord  Ipsden  fell  into  a  reverie. 

"  Is  my  mind  or  my  body  disordered  ?  Dr.  Aberford  ! 
—  absurd!  —  Saunders  is  getting  too  pragmatical.  The 
doctor  shall  prescribe  for  him  instead  of  me  ;  by  Jovq, 
that   would   serve   him   right."      And  my  lord   faintly 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  9 

chuckled.  "  No  !  this  is  what  I  am  ill  of,"  —  and  he 
read  the  fatal  note  again.  "  I  do  nothing  !  —  cruel,  un- 
just," sighed  he.  "  I  could  have  done,  would  have  done, 
anything  to  please  her.  Do  nothing  !  nobody  does  any- 
thing now  —  things  don't  come  in  your  way  to  be  done 
as  they  used  centuries  ago,  or  we  should  do  them  just 
the  same  ;  it  is  their  fault,  not  ours,"  argued  his  lord- 
ship somewhat  confusedly  ;  then  leaning  his  brow  upon 
the  sofa  he  wished  to  die ;  for,  at  that  dark  moment,  life 
seemed  to  this  fortunate  man  an  aching  void ;  a  weary, 
stale,  flat,  unprofitable  tale  :  a  faded  flower ;  a  ball-room 
after  daylight  has  crept  in,  and  music,  motion,  and 
beauty  are  fled  away. 

"  Dr.  Aberford,  my  lord." 

This  announcement,  made  by  Mr.  Saunders,  checked 
his  lordship's  reverie. 

"  Insults  everybody,  does  he  not,  Saunders  ?  " 

"  Yes,  my  lord,"  said  Saunders,  monotonously. 

"Perhaps  he  will  me;  that  might  amuse  me,"  said  the 
other. 

A  moment  later  the  doctor  bowled  into  the  apartment, 
tugging  at  his  gloves,  as  he  ran. 

The  contrast  between  him  and  our  poor  rich  friend  is 
almost  beyond  human  language. 

Here  lay  on  a  sofa,  Ipsden,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished young  gentlemen  in  Europe  ;  a  creature  in- 
capable, by  nature,  of  a  rugged  tone  or  a  coarse  gesture  ; 
a  being  without  the  slightest  apparent  pretension,  but 
refined  beyond  the  wildest  dream  of  dandies.  To  him, 
enter  Aberford,  perspiring  and  shouting.  He  was  one  of 
those  globules  of  human  quicksilver  one  sees  now  and 
then,  for  two  seconds ;  they  are,  in  fact,  two  globules  ; 
their  head  is  one,  invariably  bald,  round,  and  glittering ; 
the  body  is  another  in  activity  and  shape,  fotus  teres 
atque  rotundus ;  and  in  fifty  years  they  live  five  cent 


10  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

uries.  Horum  rex  Aberford  —  of  these  our  doctor  was 
the  chief.  He  had  hardly  torn  off  one  glove,  and  rolled 
as  far  as  the  third  flower  from  the  door  on  his  lordship's 
carpet,  before  he  shouted  : 

"  This  is  my  patient,  lolloping  in  pursuit  of  health.  — 
Your  hand,"  added  he.  For  he  was  at  the  sofa  long 
before  his  lordship  could  glide  off  it. 

"  Tongue.  —  Pulse  is  good.  —  Breathe  in  my  face." 

"  Breathe  in  your  face,  sir  !  how  can  I  do  that  ? " 
(With  an  air  of  mild  doubt.) 

"By  first  inhaling,  and  then  exhaling  in  the  direction 
required,  or  how  can  I  make  acquaintance  with  your 
bowels  ?  " 

"My  bowels!" 

"  The  abdomen,  and  the  greater  and  lesser  intestines. 
Well,  never  mind,  I  can  get  at  them  another  way ;  give 
your  heart  a  slap,  so.  —  That's  your  liver.  —  And  that's 
your  diaphragm." 

His  lordship  having  found  the  required  spot  (some 
people  that  I  know  could  not)  and  slapped  it,  the 
Aberford  made  a  circular  spring  and  listened  eagerly  at 
his  shoulder-blade :  the  result  of  this  scientific  panto- 
mime seemed  to  be  satisfactory,  for  he  exclaimed,  not  to 
say  bawled : 

"  Hallo  !  here  is  a  viscount  as  sound  as  a  roach.  Now, 
young  gentleman,"  added  he,  "your  organs  are  superb, 
yet  you  are  really  out  of  sorts ;  it  follows  you  have  the 
maladies  of  idle  minds,  love,  perhaps,  among  the  rest ; 
you  blush,  a  diagnostic  of  that  disorder ;  make  your 
mind  easy ;  cutaneous  disorders,  such  as  love,  etc.,  shall 
never  kill  a  patient  of  mine,  with  a  stomach  like  yours : 
so,  now  to  cure  you ! "  And  away  went  the  spherical 
doctor,  with  his  hands  behind  him,  not  up  and  down  the 
room,  but  slanting  and  tacking  like  a  knight  on  a  chess- 
board.    He  had  not  made  many  steps,  before,  turning 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  11 

his  upper  globule,  without  affecting  liis  lower,  he  hurled 
back,  in  a  cold  business-like  tone,  the  following  inter- 
rogatory : 

'■'■  What  are  your  vices  ?  " 

"  Saunders,"  inquired  the  patient,  "  which  are  my 
vices  ?  " 

"  M'  lord,  lordship  hasn't  any  vices,"  replied  Saunders, 
with  dull  matter-of-fact  solemnity. 

"  Lady  Barbara  makes  the  same  complaint,"  thought 
Lord  Ipsden. 

"  It  seems  I  have  not  any  vices,  Dr.  Aberford,"  said 
he,  demurely. 

"That  is  bad;  nothing  to  get  hold  of.  What  interests 
you  then  ?  " 

"  I  don't  remember." 

"What  amuses  you  ?  " 

« I  forget." 

"  What !  no  winning  horse  to  gallop  away  your  rents  ?  " 

"No,  sir!" 

"No  opera  girl,  to  run  her  foot  and  ankle  through  your 
purse  ?  " 

"  No,  sir !  and  I  think  their  ankles  are  not  what  they 
were." 

"Stuff!  just  the  same,  from  their  ankles  up  to  their 
ears,  and  down  again  to  their  morals ;  it  is  your  eyes 
that  are  sunk  deeper  into  your  head.  Hum  !  no  horses, 
no  vices,  no  dancers,  no  yacht;  you  confound  one's 
notions  of  nobility,  and  I  ought  to  know  them,  for  I 
have  to  patch  them  all  up  a  bit  just  before  they  go  to 
the  deuce." 

"  But  I  have.  Dr.  Aberford." 

"  What ! " 

"  A  yacht !  and  a  clipper  she  is,  too." 

"Ah  !     (Now  I've  got  him.)  " 

"In  the  Bay  of  Biscay  she  lay  a  half  a  point  nearer 
the  wind  than  Lord  Heavyjib." 


12  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 


"Oh,  bother  Lord  Heavyjib,   and  his  Bay  of    Bis- 


cay 


I" 


"  With  all  my  heart ;  they  have  often  bothered  me." 

"Send  her  round  to  Granton  Pier,  in  the  Firth  of 
Forth." 

"  I  Avill,  sir." 

"And  write  down  this  prescription."  And  away  he 
walked  again,  thinking  the  prescription. 

"  Saunders,"  appealed  his  master. 

"  Saunders  be  hanged  !  " 

"  Sir  ! "  said  Saunders,  with  dignity,  "  I  thank  you." 

"  Don't  thank  me  ;  thank  your  own  deserts,"  replied 
the  modern  Chesterheld.  "  Oblige  me  by  writing  it 
yourself,  my  lord ;  it  is  all  the  bodily  exercise  you  Avill 
have  had  to-day,  no  doubt." 

The  young  viscount  bowed,  seated  himself  at  a  desk, 
and  wrote  from  dictation:  "Dr.  Aberford's  Prescrip- 
tion : 

"  Make  acquaintance  with  all  the  people  of  low  estate 
who  have  time  to  be  bothered  with  you ;  learn  their 
ways,  their  minds,  and,  above  all,  their  troubles." 

"  Won't  all  this  bore  me  ?  "  suggested  the  writer. 

"  You  will  see.  Relieve  one  fellow-creature  every  day, 
and  let  Mr.  Saunders  book  the  circumstances." 

"  I  shall  like  this  part,"  said  the  patient,  laying  down 
his  pen.  "  How  clever  of  you  to  think  of  such  things  ; 
may  not  I  do  two  sometimes  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not ;  one  pill  per  day.  —  Write,  Fish  the 
herring  !  (that  beats  deer-stalking.)  Run  your  nose  into 
adventures  at  sea ;  live  on  tenpence,  and  earn  it ;  is  it 
down  ? " 

"  Yes,  it  is  down,  but  Saunders  would  have  written  it 
better." 

"If  he  hadn't,  he  ought  to  be  hanged,"  said  the 
Aberford,  inspecting  the  work.     "I'm  off;  where's  my 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  13 

hat  ?  oh,  there  ;  where's  my  money  ?  oh,  here.  Now, 
look  here  ;  follow  my  prescription,  and 

You  will  soon  have  Mens  sana  in  corpore  sano  ; 
And  not  care  whether  the  girls  say  yes  or  say  no. 

Neglect  it,  and  —  my  gloves  ;  oh,  in  my  pocket  —  you 
will  be  blase  and  ennuye  and  —  (an  English  participle 
that  means  something  as  bad) ;  God  bless  you  ! " 

And  out  he  scuttled,  glided  after  by  Saunders,  for 
whom  he  opened  and  shut  the  street  door. 

Never  was  a  greater  effect  produced  by  a  doctor's 
visit :  patient  and  physician  were  made  for  each  other. 
Dr.  Aberford  was  the  specific  for  Lord  Ipsden.  He  came 
to  him  like  a  shower  to  a  fainting  strawberry. 

Saunders,  on  his  return,  found  his  lord  pacing  the 
apartment. 

"  Saunders,"  said  he,  smartly  ;  "  send  down  to  Graves- 
end,  and  order  the  yacht  to  this  place  —  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Granton  Pier.     Yes,  my  lord." 

''And,  Saunders,  take  clothes  and  books  and  violins 
and  telescopes  and  things  —  and  me  —  to  Euston  Square 
in  an  hour." 

"Impossible,  my  lord,"  cried  Saunders,  in  dismay. 
"And  there  is  no  train  for  hours." 

His  master  replied  with  a  hundred-pound  note,  and  a 
quiet  but  wickedish  look ;  and  the  prince  of  gentlemen's 
gentlemen  had  all  the  required  items  with  him,  in  a 
special  train,  within  the  specified  time,  and  away  they 
flashed  northwards. 


14  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER   II. 

It  is  said  that  opposite  characters  make  a  union 
happiest ;  and  perhaps  Lord  Ipsden,  diffident  of  him- 
self, felt  the  value  to  him  of  a  creature  so  different  as 
Lady  Barbara  Sinclair ;  but  the  lady,  for  her  part,  was 
not  diffident  of  herself,  nor  was  she  in  search  of  her 
opposite  ;  on  the  contrary,  she  was  waiting  patiently  to 
find  just  such  a  man  as  she  was,  or  fancied  herself,  a 
woman. 

Accustomed  to  measure  men  by  their  characters  alone, 
and  to  treat  with  sublime  contempt  the  accidents  of  birth 
and  fortune,  she  had  been  a  little  staggered  by  the  assur- 
ance of  this  butterfly  that  had  proposed  to  settle  upon 
her  hand  —  for  life. 

In  a  word,  the  beautiful  writer  of  the  fatal  note  was 
honestly  romantic,  according  to  the  romance  of  1848, 
and  of  good  society  ;  of  course  she  was  not  affected  by 
hair  tumbling  back  or  plastered  down  forwards,  and  a 
rolling  eye  went  no  farther  with  her  than  a  squinting 
one. 

Her  romance  was  stern,  not  sickly.  She  was  on  the 
lookout  for  iron  virtues  ;  she  had  sworn  to  be  wooed 
with  great  deeds,  or  never  won  ;  on  this  subject  she  had 
thought  much,  though  not  enough  to  ask  herself  whether 
great  deeds  are  always  to  be  got  at,  however  disposed  a 
lover  may  be. 

No  matter ;  she  kept  herself  in  reserve  for  some  earnest 
man,  who  was  not  to  come  flattering  and  fooling  to  her, 
but  look  another  way  and  do  exploits. 

She  liked  Lord  Ipsden,  her  cousin  once  removed,  but 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  15 

despised  Mm  for  being  agreeable,  handsome,  clever,  and 
nobody. 

She  was  also  a  little  bitten  with  what  she  and  others 
called  the  Middle  Ages,  in  fact  with  that  picture  of  them 
which  Grub  Street,  imposing  on  the  simplicity  of  youth, 
had  got  up  for  sale  by  arraying  painted  glass,  gilt  rags, 
and  fancy,  against  fact. 

With  these  vague  and  sketchy  notices  we  are  compelled 
to  part,  for  the  present,  with  Lady  Barbara :  but  it  serves 
her  right ;  she  has  gone  to  establish  her  court  in  Perth- 
shire, and  left  her  rejected  lover  on  our  hands. 

Journeys  of  a  few  hundred  miles  are  no  longer 
described. 

You  exchange  a  dead  chair  for  a  living  chair ;  Saunders 
puts  in  your  hand  a  new  tale  like  this  ;  you  mourn  the 
superstition  of  booksellers,  which  still  inflicts  uncut 
leaves  upon  humanity,  though  tailors  do  not  send  home 
coats  with  the  sleeves  stitched  up,  nor  chambermaids  put 
travellers  into  apple-pie  beds  as  well  as  damp  sheets. 
You  rend  and  read,  and  are  at  Edinburgh,  fatigued  more 
or  less,  but  not  by  the  journey. 

Lord  Ipsden  was,  therefore,  soon  installed  by  the  Firth 
side,  full  of  the  Aberford. 

The  young  nobleman  not  only  venerated  the  doctor's 
sagacity,  but  half  admired  his  brusquerie  and  bustle  ; 
things  of  which  he  was  himself  never  guilty. 

As  for  the  prescription,  that  was  a  Delphic  Oracle. 
Worlds  could  not  have  tempted  him  to  deviate  from  a 
letter  in  it. 

He  waited  with  impatience  for  the  yacht ;  and,  mean- 
time, it  struck  him  that  the  first  part  of  the  prescription 
could  be  attacked  at  once. 

It  was  the  afternoon  of  the  day  succeeding  his  arrival. 
The  Fifeshire  hills,  seen  across  the  Firth  from  his  win- 
dows, were  beginning  to  take  their  charming  violet  tinge, 


16  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

a  light  breeze  ruffled  the  bkie  water  into  a  sparkling 
smile,  the  shore  was  tranquil,  and  the  sea  full  of  noise- 
less life,  with  the  craft  of  all  sizes  gliding  and  dancing 
and  courtesying  on  their  trackless  roads. 

The  air  was  tepid,  pure,  and  sweet  as  heaven;  this 
bright  afternoon,  nature  had  grudged  nothing  that  could 
give  fresh  life  and  hope  to  such  dwellers  in  dust  and 
smoke  and  vice,  as  were  there,  to  look  awhile  on  her 
clean  face  and  drink  her  honeyed  breath. 

This  young  gentleman  was  not  insensible  to  the  beauty 
of  the  scene.  He  was  a  little  lazy  by  nature,  and  made 
lazier  by  the  misfortune  of  wealth,  but  he  had  sensibili- 
ties ;  he  was  an  artist  of  great  natural  talent ;  had  he 
only  been  without  a  penny,  how  he  would  have  handled 
the  brush  !  And  then  he  was  a  mighty  sailor;  if  he  had 
sailed  for  biscuit  a  few  years,  how  he  would  have  handled 
a  ship  ! 

As  he  was,  he  had  the  eye  of  a  hawk  for  nature's 
beauties,  and  the  sea  always  came  back  to  him  like  a 
friend  after  an  absence. 

This  scene,  then,  curled  round  his  heart  a  little,  and 
he  felt  the  good  physician  was  wiser  than  the  tribe  that 
go  by  that  name,  and  strive  to  build  health  on  the  sandy 
foundation  of  drugs. 

"  Saunders  !  do  you  know  what  Dr.  Aberford  means 
by  the  lower  classes  ?  " 

"  Perfectly,  my  lord." 

"  Are  there  any  about  here  ?  " 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  they  are  everywhere,  my  lord." 

"Get  me  some"  (cujarette). 

Out  went  Saunders,  with  his  useful  graceful  empresse- 
ment,  but  an  internal  shrug  of  his  shoulders. 

He  was  absent  an  hour  and  a  half ;  he  then  returned 
with  a  double  expression  on  his  face  —  pride  at  his  suc- 
cess in  diving  to  the  very  bottom  of  society,  and  contempt 
of  what  he  had  fished  up  thence. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  17 

He  approached  his  lord  mysteriously,  and  said,  sotto 
voce,  but  impressively,  "  This  is  low  enough,  my  lord." 
Then  glided  back,  and  ushered  in,  with  polite  disdain, 
two  lovelier  women  than  he  had  ever  opened  a  door  to  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  perfumed  existence. 

On  their  heads  they  wore  caps  of  Dutch  or  Flemish 
origin,  with  a  broad  lace  border,  stiffened  and  arched 
over  the  forehead,  about  three  inches  high,  leaving  the 
brow  and  cheeks  unencumbered. 

They  had  cotton  jackets,  bright  red  and  yellow,  mixed 
in  patterns,  confined  at  the  waist  by  the  apron-strings, 
but  bobtailed  below  the  waist ;  short  Avoollen  petticoats, 
with  broad  vertical  stripes,  red  and  white,  most  vivid  in 
color;  white  worsted  stockings,  and  neat,  though  high- 
quartered  shoes.  Under  their  jackets  they  wore  a  thick 
spotted  cotton  handkerchief,  about  one  inch  of  which  was 
visible  round  the  lower  part  of  the  throat. 

Of  their  petticoats,  the  outer  one  was  kilted,  or  gath- 
ered up  towards  the  front,  and  the  st  ond,  of  the  same 
color,  hung  in  the  usual  way. 

Of  these  young  women,  one  had  an  olive  complexion, 
with  the  red  blood  mantling  under  it,  and  black  hair, 
and  glorious  black  eyebrows. 

The  other  was  fair,  with  a  massive  but  shapely  throat, 
as  white  as  milk ;  glossy  brown  hair,  the  loose  threads 
of  which  glittered  like  gold,  and  a  blue  eye,  which  being 
contrasted  with  dark  eyebrows  and  lashes,  took  the 
luminous  effect  peculiar  to  that  rare  beauty. 

Their  short  petticoats  revealed  a  neat  ankle,  and  a  leg 
with  a  noble  swell ;  for  Kature,  when  she  is  in  earnest, 
builds  beauty  on  the  ideas  of  ancient  sculptors  and  poets, 
not  of  modern  poetasters,  who  with  their  airy-like  sylphs 
and  their  smoke-like  verses,  fight  for  want  of  flesh  in 
woman  and  want  of  fact  in  poetry  as  parallel  beauties. 

They  are,  my  lads.  —  Co7itinuez  ! 
2 


18  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

These  women  had  a  grand  corporeal  tract ;  they  had 
never  known  a  corset,  so  they  were  straight  as  javelins  ; 
they  could  lift  their  hands  above  their  heads !  —  actu- 
ally !  Their  supple  persons  moved  as  Nature  intended ; 
every  gesture  was  ease,  grace,  and  freedom. 

What  with  their  own  radiance,  and  the  snowy  cleanli- 
ness and  brightness  of  their  costume,  they  came  like 
meteors  into  the  apartment. 

Lord  Ipsden,  rising  gently  from  his  seat,  with  the 
same  quiet  politeness  with  which  he  would  have  received 
two  princes  of  the  blood,  said,  ''  How  do  you  do  ?  "  and 
smiled  a  welcome. 

"Fine!  hoow's  yoursel  ? "  answered  the  dark  lass, 
whose  name  was  Jean  Carnie,  and  whose  voice  Avas  not 
so  sweet  as  her  face. 

''  What'n  lord  are  ye  ?  "  continued  she.  "  Are  you  a 
juke  ?     I  wad  like  fine  to  hae  a  crack  wi'  a  juke." 

Saunders,  who  knew  himself  the  cause  of  this  ques- 
tion, replied,  sotto  voce,  "  His  lordship  is  a  viscount." 

"  I  didna  ken't,"  was  Jean's  remark.  "  But  it  has  a 
bonny  soond." 

"  What  mair  would  ye  hae  ?  "  said  the  fair  beauty, 
whose  name  was  Christie  Johnstone.  Then  appealing 
to  his  lordship  as  the  likeliest  to  know,  she  added, 
'^Nobeelity  is  just  a  soond  itsel,  I'm  tauld." 

The  viscount  finding  himself  expected  to  say  some- 
thing on  a  topic  he  had  not  attended  much  to,  answered 
dryly,  "  We  must  ask  the  republicans,  they  are  the 
people  that  give  their  minds  to  such  subjects." 

''And  yon  man,"'  asked  Jean  Carnie,  ''is  he  a  lord, 
too  ?  " 

"  I  am  his  lordship's  servant,"  replied  Saunders, 
gravely,  not  without  a  secret  misgiving  whether  fate 
had  been  just. 

"  Na  ! "  replied  she,  not  to  be  imposed  upon,  "  ye  are 
statelier  and  prooder  than  this  ane." 


CHRISTIE    JOHNSTONE. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  19 

"I  will  explain,"  said  his  master.  "Saunders  knows 
his  value ;  a  servant  like  Saunders  is  rarer  than  an  idle 
viscount." 

"My  lord,  my  lord!"  remonstrated  Saunders,  with  a 
shocked  and  most  disclamatory  tone.  "  Rather ! "  was 
his  inward  reflection. 

"Jean,"  said  Christie,  "ye  hae  muckle  to  laern.  Are 
ye  for  herrin'  the  day.  Vile  Count  ?  " 

"  No !  are  you  for  this  sort  of  thing  ?  " 

At  this,  Saunders,  with  a  world  of  empressement, 
offered  the  Carnie  some  cake  that  was  on  the  table. 

She  took  a  piece,  instantly  spat  it  out  into  her  hand, 
and  with  more  energy  than  delicacy  flung  it  into  the  fire. 

"Augh!"  cried  she,  "just  a  sugar  and  saut  butter 
thegither;  buy  nae  mair  at  yon  shoep.  Vile  Count." 

"  Try  this,  out  of  Nature's  shop,"  laughed  their  enter- 
tainer ;  and  he  offered  them,  himself,  some  peaches  and 
things. 

"  Hech  I  a  medi — cine  ! "  said  Christie. 

"  Nature,  my  lad,"  said  Miss  Carnie,  making  her  ivory 
teeth  meet  in  their  first  nectarine,  "  I  didna  ken  whaur 
ye  stoep,  but  ye  beat  the  other  confectioners,  that  div 
ye." 

The  fair  lass,  who  had  watched  the  viscount  all  this 
time  as  demurely  as  a  cat  cream,  now  approached  him. 

This  young  woman  was  the  thinker;  her  voice  was 
also  rich,  full,  and  melodious,  and  her  manner  very  en- 
gaging ;  it  was  half  advancing,  half  retiring,  not  easy  to 
resist,  or  to  describe. 

"Noo,"  said  she,  with  a  very  slight  blush  stealing 
across  her  face,  "ye  maun  let  me  catecheeze  ye, 
wull  ye?" 

The  last  two  words  were  said  in  a  way  that  would 
have  induced  a  bear  to  reveal  his  winter  residence. 

He  smiled  assent.     Saunders  retired  to  the  door,  and 


20  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

excluding  every  shade  of  curiosity  from  his  face,  took 
an  attitude,  half  majesty,  half  obsequiousness. 

Christie  stood  by  Lord  Ipsden,  with  one  hand  on  her 
hip  (the  knuckles  downwards),  but  graceful  as  Antinous, 
and  began. 

"  Hoo  muckle  is  the  Queen  greater  than  y'  are  ?  " 

His  lordship  Avas  obliged  to  reflect. 

"  Let  me  see  —  as  is  the  moon  to  a  wax  taper,  so  is 
her  Majesty  the  Queen  to  you  and  me,  and  the  rest." 

"  An'  whaur  does  the  Juke  ^  come  in  ?  " 

"  On  this  particular  occasion,  the  Duke  ^  makes  one  of 
us,  my  pretty  maid." 

"I  see  !     Are  na  ye  awfu'  prood  o'  being  a  lorrd  ?  " 

"  What  an  idea  !  " 

"His  lordship  did  not  go  to  bed  a  spinning-jenny,  and 
rise  up  a  lord,  like  some  of  them,"  put  in  Saunders. 

"  Saunders,"  said  the  peer,  doubtfully,  "  eloquence 
rather  bores  people." 

"  Then  I  mustn't  speak  again,  my  lord,"  said  Saunders, 
respectfully. 

"Noo,"  said  the  fair  inquisitor,  "ye  shall  tell  me  how 
ye  came  to  be  lorrds,  your  faemily  ?  " 

"  Saunders !  " 

"  Na !  ye  mauua  flee  to  Sandy  for  a  thing,  ye  are  no  a 
bairn,  are  ye  ?  " 

Here  was  a  dilemma,  the  Saunders  prop  knocked  rudely 
away,  and  obliged  to  think  for  ourselves. 

But  Saunders  would  come  to  his  distressed  master's 
assistance.  He  furtively  conveyed  to  him  a  plump  book, 
—  this  was  Saunders's  manual  of  faith  ;  the  author  was 
Mr.  Burke,  not  Edmund. 

Lord  Ipsden  ran  hastily  over  the  page,  closed  the  book, 
and  said,  "  Here  is  the  story. 

"  Five  hundred  years  ago  "  — 

*  Buccleuch.  «  Wellington. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  21 

"  Listen,  Jean,"  said  Christie ;  "  we're  gaun  to  get  a 
boeny  story.  '  Five  hundre'  years  ago,'  "  added  she,  with 
interest  and  awe. 

"  Was  a  great  battle,"  resumed  the  narrator,  in  cheer- 
ful tones,  as  one  larking  with  history,  —  "between  a 
king  of  England  and  his  rebels.  He  was  in  the  thick  of 
the  light"  — 

"  That's  the  king,  Jean,  he  was  in  the  thick  o't." 

"  My  ancestor  killed  a  fellow  who  was  sneaking  be- 
hind him,  but  the  next  moment  a  man-at-arms  prepared 
a  thrust  at  his  Majesty,  who  had  his  hands  full  with  three 
assailants." 

''  Eh !  that's  no  fair,"  said  Christie,  "  as  sure  as  deeth." 

"  My  ancestor  dashed  forward,  and  as  the  king's  sword 
passed  through  one  of  them,  he  clove  another  to  the 
waist  with  a  blow." 

"  Weel  done  !  weel  done  ! " 

Lord  Ipsden  looked  at  the  speaker,  her  eyes  were 
glittering,  and  her  cheek  flushing. 

"  Good  Heavens  !  "  thought  he  ;  "  she  believes  it !  "  So 
he  began  to  take  more  pains  with  his  legend. 

"  But  for  the  spearsman,"  continued  he,  "  he  had  noth- 
ing but  his  body ;  he  gave  it,  it  was  his  duty,  and  re- 
ceived the  death  levelled  at  his  sovereign." 

"  Hech  I  puir  mon."  And  the  glowing  eyes  began  to 
glisten. 

"  The  battle  flowed  another  way,  and  God  gave  victory 
to  the  right ;  but  the  king  came  back  to  look  for  him,  for 
it  was  no  common  service." 

"  Deed  no  !  " 

Here  Lord  Ipsden  began  to  turn  his  eye  inwards,  and 
call  up  the  scene.     He  lowered  his  voice. 

'•  They  found  him  lying  on  his  back,  looking  death  in 
the  face. 

"  The  nobles,  by  the  king's  side,  uncovered  as  soon  as 


22  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

he  was  found,  for  they  were  brave  men,  too.  There  was 
a  moment's  silence ;  eyes  met  eyes,  and  said,  This  is  a 
stout  soklier's  Last  battle. 

"  The  king  could  not  bid  him  live." 

"Na!  lad.  King  Deeth  has  ower  strong  a  grrip." 

"  But  he  did  what  kings  can  do,  he  gave  him  two  blows 
with  his  royal  sword." 

"  Oh !  the  robber,  and  him  a  deeing  mon." 

"  Two  words  from  his  royal  month,  and  he  and  we  were 
barons  of  Ipsden  and  Hawthorn  Glen  from  that  day  to 
this." 

"But  the  puir  dying  creature  ?  " 

"  What  poor  dying  creature  ?  " 

"Your  forbear,  lad." 

"I  don't  know  why  you  call  him  poor,  madam  ;  all  the 
men  of  that  day  are  dust ;  they  are  the  gold  dust,  who 
died  with  honor. 

"  He  looked  round,  uneasily,  for  his  son,  —  for  he  had 
but  one,  —  and  when  that  son  knelt,  unwounded,  by  him, 
he  said,  '  Good-night,  Baron  Ipsden ; '  and  so  he  died, 
fire  in  his  eye,  a  smile  on  his  lip,  and  honor  on  his  nam^ 
forever.  I  meant  to  tell  you  a  lie,  and  I've  told  you  the 
truth." 

"  Laddie,"  said  Christie,  half  admiringly,  half  reproach- 
fully, "  ye  gar  the  tear  come  in  my  een.  Hech  !  look  at 
yon  lassie  !  how  could  you  think  t'eat  plums  through 
siccan  a  bonny  story  ?  " 

"Hets,"  answered  Jean,  who  had,  in  fact,  cleared 
the  plate,  "I  aye  listen  best  when  my  ain  mooth's 
stappit." 

"But  see,  now,"  pondered  Christie,  "twa  words  fra  a 
king,  — thir  titles  are  just  breeth." 

"  Of  course,"  was  the  answer.  ''  All  titles  are.  What 
is  popularity?  Ask  Aristides  and  Lamartine:  —  the 
breath  of  a  mob,  —  smells  of  its  source,  —  and  is  gone 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  23 

before  the  sun  can  set  on  it.  ISTow  the  royal  breath  does 
smell  of  the  rose  and  crown,  and  sta3^s  by  us  from  age  to 
age." 

The  story  had  warmed  our  marble  acquaintance. 
Saunders  opened  his  eyes,  and  thought,  "  We  shall 
wake  up  the  House  of  Lords  some  evening,  —  we 
shall." 

His  lordshij)  then  added,  less  warmly,  looking  at  the 
girls,  — 

"  I  think  I  should  like  to  be  a  fisherman."  So  saying, 
my  lord  yawned  slightly. 

To  this  aspiration  the  young  fishwives  deigned  no 
attention,  doubting,  perhaps,  its  sincerity ;  and  Christie, 
with  a  shade  of  severity,  inquired  of  him  how  he  came 
to  be  a  Vile  Count. 

"A  baron's  no'  a  Vile  Count,  I'm  sure,"  said  she  ;  "  sae 
tell  me  how  ye  came  to  be  a  Vile  Count." 

"Ah!  "  said  he,  "that  is  by  no  means  a  pretty  story, 
like  the  other ;  you  will  not  like  it,  I  am  sure." 

"  Ay,  will  I,  —  ay,  will  I ;  I'm  aye  seeking  knoew- 
ledge." 

"  Well,  it  is  soon  told.  One  of  us  sat  twenty  years  on 
one  seat,  in  the  same  house,  so  one  day  he  got  up  a  — 
viscount." 

'•'Ower  muckle  pay  for  ower  little  wark." 

"Now  don't  say  that,  I  wouldn't  do  it  to  be  emperor  of 
Kussia." 

"  Aweel,  I  hae  gotten  a  heap  out  o'  ye ;  sae  noow  I'll 
gang,  since  ye  are  no'  for  herrin' ;  come  away,  Jean." 

At  this  their  host  remonstrated,  and  inquired,  why 
bores  are  at  one's  service,  night  and  day,  and  bright  peo- 
ple are  always  in  a  hurry ;  he  was  informed,  in  reply, 
"Labor  is  the  lot  o'  inan.  Div  ye  no  ken  that  muckle  ? 
And  abune  a'  o'  women."  ^ 

>  A  local  idea,  I  suspect.  —  C.  Si. 


24  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  Why,  what  can  two  such  pretty  creatures  have  to  do, 
except  to  be  admired  ?  " 

This  question  coming  within  the  dark  beauty's  scope, 
she  hastened  to  reply. 

"  To  sell  our  herrin'  —  we  hae  three  hundre'  left  in  the 
creel." 

"What  is  the  price?" 

At  this  question  the  poetry  died  out  of  Christie  John- 
stone's face,  she  gave  her  companion  a  rapid  look,  indis- 
cernible by  male  eye,  and  answered,  — 

"Three  a  penny,  sirr;  they  are  no  plenty  the  day," 
added  she,  in  smooth  tones  that  carried  conviction. 

(Little  liar,  they  were  selling  six  a  penny  everywhere.) 

" Saunders,  buy  them  all,  and  be  ever  so  long  about  it; 
count  them,  or  some  nonsense." 

"  He's  daft !  he's  daft !  Oh,  ye  ken,  Jean,  an  Ennglish- 
man  and  a  lorrd,  twa  daft  things  thegither,  he  could  na' 
miss  the  road.     Coont  them,  lassie." 

"Come  away,  Sandy,  till  I  count  them  till  ye,"  said 
Jean. 

Saunders  and  Jean  disappeared. 

Business  being  out  of  sight,  curiosity  revived. 

"  An'  what  brings  ye  here  from  London,  if  ye  please  ?" 
recommenced  the  fair  inquisitor. 

"You  have  a  good  countenance ;  there  is  something  in 
your  face.  I  could  find  it  in  my  heart  to  tell  you,  but  I 
should  bore  you." 

"  De'el  a  fear !  Bore  me,  bore  me  !  whaat's  thaat,  I 
wonder  ?  " 

"  What  is  your  name,  madam  ?     Mine  is  Ipsden." 

"  They  ca'  me  Christie  Johnstone." 

"Well,  Christie  Johnstone,  I  am  under  the  doctor's 
hands." 

"  Puir  lad  !  What's  the  trouble  ?  "  (solemnly  and 
tenderly.) 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  25 

^^  Ennui  !^'  (rather  piteously.) 

"  Yawn-we  ?     I  never  lieerd  tell  o't." 

"  Oh,  you  lucky  girl,"  burst  out  he  ;  "  but  the  doctor 
has  undertaken  to  cure  me:  in  one  thing  you  could 
assist  me,  if  I  am  not  presuming  too  far  on  our  short 
acquaintance.  1  am  to  relieve  one  poor  distressed  person 
every  day,  but  I  mustn't  do  two;  is  not  that  a  bore,?  " 

"  Gie's  your  hand,  gie's  your  hand.  I'm  vexed  for 
ca'ing  you  daft.  Hech  !  what  a  saft  hand  ye  hae.  Jean, 
I'm  saying,  come  here,  feel  this." 

Jean,  who  had  run  in,  took  the  viscount's  hand  from 
Christie. 

"  It  never  wroucht  any,"  explained  Jean. 

"And  he  has  bonny  hair,"  said  Christie,  just  touch- 
ing his  locks  on  the  other  side. 

''  He's  a  bonny  lad,"  said  Jean,  inspecting  him  scien- 
tifically and  point-blank. 

"  Ay,  is  he,"  said  the  other.  "  Aweel,  there's  Jess 
Rutherford,  a  widdy,  wi'  four  bairns,  ye  meiclit  do  waur 
than  ware  your  siller  on  her." 

"  Five  pounds  to  begin  ?  "  inquired  his  lordship. 

"  Five  pund  !     Are  ye  made  o'  siller  ?     Ten  scheH'n  I " 

Saunders  was  rung  for,  and  produced  a  one-pound 
note. 

"  The  herrin  is  five  and  saxpence :  it's  four  and  sax- 
pence  I'm  awin  ye,"  said  the  young  fishwife,  "  and  Jess 
will  be  a  glad  woman  the  neicht." 

The  settlement  was  effected,  and  away  went  the  two 
friends  saying,  — 

"  Good-boye,  Vile  Count." 

Their  host  fell  into  thought. 

*^  When  have  I  talked  so  much  ?  "  asked  he  of  himself. 
''  Dr.  Aberford,  you  are  a  wonderful  man ;  I  like  your 
lower  classes  amazingly." 

"  Mejiez-vous,  Monsieur  Ipsden  !  "  should  some  mentor 
have  said. 


26  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

As  the  devil  puts  into  a  beginner's  hands  ace,  queen, 
five  trumps,  to  give  him  a  taste  for  whist,  so  these  lower 
classes  have  perhaps  put  forward  one  of  their  best  cards 
to  lead  you  into  a  false  estimate  of  the  strength  of  their 
hand. 

Instead,  however,  of  this,  who  should  return  to  disturb 
the  equilibrium  of  truth,  but  this  Christina  Johnstone. 
She  came  thoughtfully  in,  and  said,  — 

"  I've  been  taking  a  thoucht,  and  this  is  no  what  yon 
gude  physeecian  meaned :  ye  are  no  to  fling  your  chaerity 
like  a  bane  till  a  doeg  ;  ye'll  gang  yoursel  to  Jess  Ruth- 
erford ;  Flucker  Johnstone,  that's  my  brother,  will  con- 
voy ye." 

"  But  how  is  your  brother  to  know  me  ?  " 

"  How  ?  Because  I'll  gie  him  a  sair,  sair  hiding,  if 
he  lets  ye  gang  by." 

She  then  returned  the  one-pound  note,  a  fresh  settle- 
ment was  effected,  and  she  left  him. 

At  the  door  she  said,  "  And  I  am  muckle  obleeged  to 
ye  for  your  story  and  your  goodness." 

Whilst  uttering  these  words,  she  half  kissed  her  hand 
to  him,  with  a  lofty  and  disengaged  gesture,  such  as  one 
might  expect  from  a  queen,  if  queens  did  not  wear  stays  ; 
and  was  gone. 

When  his  lordship,  a  few  minutes  after,  sauntered  out 
for  a  stroll,  the  first  object  he  beheld  was  an  exact  human 
square,  a  handsome  boy,  with  a  body  swelled  out,  appar- 
ently to  the  size  of  a  man's,  with  blue  flannel,  and  blue 
cloth  above  it,  leaning  against  a  wall,  with  his  hands  in 
his  pockets,  —  a  statuette  of  hisoucia7ice. 

This  marine  puff-ball  was  Flucker  Johnstone,  aged 
fourteen. 

Stain  his  sister's  face  with  diluted  walnut-juice,  as 
they  make  the  stage  gypsy  and  red  Indian  (two  animals 
imagined  by  actors  to  be  one),  and  you  have  Flucker's 
face. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  27 

A  slight  moral  distinction  remains,  not  to  be  so  easily 
got  over. 

She  was  the  best  girl  in  the  place,  and  he  a  baddish 
boy. 

He  was,  however,  as  sharp  in  his  way  as  she  was  in- 
telligent in  hers. 

This  youthful  mariner  allowed  his  lordship  to  pass 
him,  and  take  twenty  steps,  but  watched  him  all  the 
time,  and  compared  him  with  a  description  furnished 
him  by  his  sister. 

He  then  followed,  and  brought  him  to,  as  he  called  it. 

"I  daur  say  it's  you  I'm  to  convoy  to  yon  auld  faggitt ! " 
said  this  baddish  boy. 

On  they  went,  Flucker  rolling  and  pitching  and  yaw- 
ing to  keep  up  with  the  lordly  galley,  for  a  fisherman's 
natural  waddle  is  two  miles  an  hour. 

At  the  very  entrance  of  Newhaven,  the  new  pilot  sud- 
denly sung  out,  "  Starboard !  " 

Starboard  it  was,  and  they  ascended  a  filthy  "  close  " 
or  alley.  They  mounted  a  staircase  which  was  out  of 
doors,  and,  without  knocking,  Flucker  introduced  him- 
self into  Jess  Rutherford's  house. 

"  Here  a  gentleman  to  speak  till  ye,  wife." 


28  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  widow  was  weather-beaten  and  rough.  She  sat 
mending  an  old  net. 

"  The  gentleman's  welcome,"  said  she  ;  but  there  was 
no  gratification  in  her  tone,  and  but  little  surprise. 

His  lordship  then  explained  that,  understanding  there 
were  worthy  people  in  distress,  he  was  in  hopes  he 
might  be  permitted  to  assist  them,  and  that  she  must 
blame  a  neighbor  of  hers  if  he  had  broken  in  upon  her 
too  abruptly  with  this  object.  He  then,  with  a  blush, 
hinted  at  ten  shillings,  which  he  begged  she  would  con- 
sider as  merely  an  instalment,  until  he  could  learn  the 
precise  nature  of  her  embarrassments,  and  the  best  way 
of  placing  means  at  her  disposal. 

The  widow  heard  all  this  with  a  lack-lustre  mind. 

For  many  years  her  life  had  been  unsuccessful  labor: 
if  anything  ever  had  come  to  her,  it  had  always  been  a 
misfortune ;  her  incidents  had  been  thorns,  her  events 
daggers. 

She  could  not  realize  a  human  angel  coming  to  her 
relief,  and  she  did  not  realize  it,  and  she  worked  away 
at  her  net. 

At  this  Flucker,  to  Avhom  his  lordship's  speech 
appeared  monstrously  weak  and  pointless,  drew  nigh, 
and  gave  the  widow,  in  her  ear,  his  version,  namely,  his 
sister's  embellished.  It  was  briefly  this :  "  That  the 
gentleman  was  a  daft  lord  from  England,  who  had  come 
with  the  bank  in  his  breeks,  to  remove  poverty  from 
Scotland,  beginning  with  her.  '  Sae  speak  loud  aneuch, 
and  ye'll  no  want  siller,' "  was  his  polite  corollary. 


CHRISTIE    JOHNSTONE.  29 

His  lordship  rose,  laid  a  card  on  a  chair,  begged  her 
to  make  use  of  him,  et  cetera ;  he  then,  recalling  the 
oracular  prescription,  said,  "  Do  me  the  favor  to  apply 
to  me  for  any  little  sum  you  have  a  use  for,  and  in  return 
I  will  beg  of  you  (if  it  does  not  bore  you  too  much)  to 
make  me  acquainted  with  any  little  troubles  you  may 
have  encountered  in  the  course  of  your  life." 

His  lordship,  receiving  no  answer,  was  about  to  go, 
after  bowing  to  her,  and  smiling  gracefully  upon  her. 

His  hand  was  on  the  latch,  when  Jess  Rutherford 
burst  into  a  passion  of  tears. 

He  turned  with  surprise. 

"J/^  troubles,  laddie,"  cried  she,  trembling  all  over. 
"  The  sun  wad  set,  and  rise,  and  set  again,  ere  I  could 
tell  ye  a'  the  trouble  I  hae  come  through. 

"  Oh !  ye  need  na  vex  yourself  for  an  auld  wife's 
tears ;  tears  are  a  blessin',  lad,  I  shall  assure  ye. 
Mony's  the  time  I  hae  prayed  for  them,  and  could  na 
hae  them.  Sit  ye  doon !  sit  ye  doon  !  I'll  no  let  ye 
gang  fra  my  door  till  I  hae  thankit  ye  —  but  gie  me 
time,  gie  me  time.  I  canna  greet  a'  the  days  of  the 
week." 

Flucker,  wtat.  14,  opened  his  eyes,  unable  to  connect 
ten  shillings  and  tears. 

Lord  Ipsden  sat  down,  and  felt  very  sorry  for  her. 

And  she  cried  at  her  ease. 

If  one  touch  of  nature  make  the  whole  world  kin, 
methinks  that  sweet  and  wonderful  thing,  sympathy,  is 
not  less  powerful.  What  frozen  barriers,  what  ice  of 
centuries,  it  can  melt  in  a  moment ! 

His  bare  mention  of  her  troubles  had  surprised  the 
widowed  woman's  heart,  and  now  she  looked  up,  and 
examined  his  countenance  ;  it  was  soon  done. 

A  woman,  young  or  old,  high  or  low,  can  discern  and 
appreciate  sensibility  in  a  man's  face,  at  a  single  glance. 


30  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

What  she  saw  there  was  enough.  She  was  sure  of 
sympathy.  She  recalled  her  resolve,  and  the  tale  of  her 
sorrows  burst  from  her  like  a  flood. 

Then  the  old  fishwife  told  the  young  aristocrat  how 
she  liad  borne  twelve  children,  and  buried  six  as  bairns; 
how  her  man  was  always  unlucky  ;  how  a  mast  fell  on 
him,  and  disabled  him  a  whole  season ;  how  they  could 
but  just  keep  the  pot  boiling  by  the  deep-sea  fishing, 
and  he  was  not  allowed  to  dredge  for  oysters,  because 
his  father  was  not  a  Newhaven  man.  How,  when  the 
herring-fishing  came,  to  make  all  right,  he  never  had 
another  man's  luck  ;  how  his  boat's  crew  would  draw 
empty  nets,  and  a  boat  alongside  him  would  be  gunwale 
down  in  the  water  with  the  fish.  How,  at  last,  one 
morning,  the  20th  day  of  November,  his  boat  came  in 
to  Newhaven  Pier  without  him,  and  when  he  was  in- 
quired for,  his  crew  said,  "  He  had  stayed  at  home,  like 
a  lazy  loon,  and  not  sailed  with  tliem  the  night  before." 
How  she  was  anxious,  and  had  all  the  public-houses 
searched,  "  For  he  took  a  drop  now  and  then,  nae  wonder, 
and  him  aye  in  the  weather."  Poor  thing !  when  he  was 
alive  she  used  to  call  him  a  drunken  scoundrel  to  his 
face.  How,  when  the  tide  went  down,  a  mad  wife,  whose 
husband  had  been  drowned  twenty  years  ago,  pointed  out 
something  under  the  pier,  that  the  rest  took  for  sea-weed 
floating  —  how  it  was  the  hair  of  her  man's  head,  washed 
about  by  the  water,  and  he  was  there,  drowned  with- 
out a  cry  or  a  struggle,  by  his  enormous  boots,  that 
kept  him  in  an  upright  position,  though  he  was  dead ; 
there  he  stood,  —  dead  —  drowned  by  slipping  from  the 
slippery  pier,  close  to  his  comrades'  hands,  in  a  dark 
and  gusty  night ;  how  lier  daughter  married,  and  Avas 
well-to-do,  and  assisted  her ;  how  she  fell  into  a  rapid 
decline,  and  died,  a  picture  of  health  to  inexperienced 
eyes.     How  she,  the  mother,  saw  and  knew,  and  watched 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  31 

the  treacherous  advance  of  disease  and  death;  how 
others  said  gayly,  "  Her  daughter  was  better,"  and  she 
was  obliged  to  say  "  Yes."  How  she  had  worked,  eigh- 
teen hours  a  day,  at  making  nets  ;  how,  when  she  let  out 
her  nets  to  the  other  men  at  the  herring-fishing,  they 
always  cheated  her,  because  her  man  was  gone.  How 
she  had  many  times  had  to  choose  between  begging  her 
meal  and  going  to  bed  without  it,  but,  thank  Heaven  ! 
she  had  always  chosen  the  latter. 

She  told  him  of  hunger,  cold  and  anguish.  As  she 
spoke  they  became  real  things  to  him ;  up  to  that 
moment  they  had  been  things  in  a  story-book.  And  as 
she  spoke  she  rocked  herself  from  side  to  side. 

Indeed,  she  was  a  woman  "  acquainted  with  grief." 
She  might  have  said,  "  Here  I  and  sorrow  sit !  This  is 
my  throne,  bid  kings  come  and  bow  to  it ! " 

Her  hearer  felt  this,  and  therefore  this  woman,  poor, 
old  and  ugly,  became  sacred  in  his  eye ;  it  was  with  a 
strange  sort  of  respect  that  he  tried  to  console  her. 

He  spoke  to  her  in  tones  gentle  and  sweet  as  the 
south  wind  on  a  summer  evening. 

"  Madam,"  said  he,  "  let  me  be  so  happy  as  to  bring 
you  some  comfort.  The  sorrows  of  the  heart  I  cannot 
heal ;  they  are  for  a  mightier  hand ;  but  a  part  of  your 
distress  appears  to  have  been  positive  need ;  that,  we 
can  at  least  dispose  of,  and  I  entreat  you  to  believe,  that 
from  this  hour  want  shall  never  enter  that  door  again. 
Never  !  upon  my  honor  !  " 

The  Scotch  are  icebergs,  with  volcanoes  underneath ; 
thaw  the  Scotch  ice,  which  is  very  cold,  and  you  shall 
get  to  the  Scotch  fire,  warmer  than  any  sun  of  Italy  or 
Spain. 

His  lordship  had  risen  to  go.  The  old  wife  had 
seemed  absorbed  in  her  own  grief ;  she  now  dried  her 
tears. 


32  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  Bide  ye,  sirr,"  said  she,  "  till  I  thank  ye." 

So  she  began  to  thank  him,  rather  coldly  and  stiffly. 

"  He  says  ye  are  a  lord,"  said  she ;  "  I  diuna  ken,  an' 
I  dinna  care ;  bnt  ye're  a  gentleman,  I  daur  say,  and  a 
kind  heart  ye  hae." 

Then  she  began  to  warm. 

"  And  ye'll  never  be  a  grain  the  poorer  for  the  siller 
ye  hae  gien  me ;  for  he  that  giveth  to  the  poor  lendeth 
to  the  Lord." 

Then  she  began  to  glow. 

"  But  it's  no  your  siller;  dinna  think  it  —  na,  lad,  na  ! 
Oh,  fine  !  I  ken  there's  mony  a  supper  for  the  bairns  and 
me  in  yon  bits  metal ;  but  I  canna  feel  your  siller  as 
I  feel  your  winsome  smile  —  the  drop  in  your  young  een 

—  an'  the  sweet  words  ye  gied  me,  in  the  sweet  music 
o'  your  Soothern  tongue,  Gude  bless  ye  ! "  (Where  was 
her  ice  by  this  time  ?)    "  Gude  bless  ye  !  and  I  bless  ye  !  " 

And  she  did  bless  him ;  and  what  a  blessing  it  was ; 

—  not  a  melodious  generality,  like  a  stage  parent's,  or 
papa's  in  a  damsel's  novel.  It  was  like  the  son  of  Barak 
on  Zophim. 

She  blessed  him,  as  one  who  had  the  power  and  the 
right  to  bless  or  curse. 

She  stood  on  the  high  ground  of  her  low  estate,  and 
her  afflictions  —  and  demanded  of  their  Creator  to  bless 
the  fellow-creature  that  had  come  to  her  aid  and  consola- 
tion. 

This  woman  had  suffered  to  the  limits  of  endurance  ; 
yesterday  she  had  said,  "  Surely  the  Almighty  does  na 
see  me  a'  these  years  !  " 

So  now  she  blessed  him,  and  her  heart's  blood  seemed 
to  gush  into  words. 

She  blessed  him  by  land  and  water. 

She  knew  most  mortal  griefs,  for  she  had  felt  them. 

She  warned  them  away  from  him  one  by  one. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  33 

She  knew  the  joys  of  life,  for  she  had  felt  their  want. 

She  summoned  them  one  by  one  to  his  side. 

"And  a  fair  wind  to  your  ship,"  cried  she;  "an'  the 
storms  aye  ten  miles  to  leeward  o'  her." 

Many  happy  days,  "  an'  weel  spent,"  she  wished  him. 

"  His  love  should  love  him  dearly,  or  a  better  take  her 
place. 

"  Health  to  his  side  by  day ;  sleep  to  his  pillow  by 
night." 

A  thousand  good  wishes  came  like  a  torrent  of  fire 
from  her  lips,  with  a  power  that  eclipsed  his  dreams  of 
human  eloquence ;  and  then,  changing  in  a  moment  from 
the  thunder  of  a  Pythoness  to  the  tender  music  of  some 
poetess  mother,  she  ended  — 

"An'  0  my  boenny,  boenny  lad,  may  ye  be  wi'  the 
rich  upon  the  airth  a'  your  days,  and  wi'  the  puir  in 

THE    W^\RLD    TO    COME  I  " 

His  lordship's  tongue  refused  him  the  thin  phrases  of 
society. 

"Farewell  for  the  present,"  said  he,  and  he  went 
quietly  away. 

He  paced  thoughtfully  home. 

He  had  drunk  a  fact  with  every  sentence,  and  an  idea 
with  every  fact. 

For  the  knowledge  we  have  never  realized  is  not 
knowledge  to  us,  —  only  knowledge's  shadow. 

AVith  the  banished  duke,  he  now  began  to  feel  "we 
are  not  alone  unhappy ; "  this  universal  world  contains 
other  guess  sorrows  than  yours,  viscount,  scilicet  than 
unvarying  health,  unbroken  leisure,  and  incalculable 
income. 

Then  this  woman's  eloquence  !  bless  me  !  he  had  seen 
folk  murmur  politely  in  the  Upper  House,  and  drone  or 
hammer  away  at  the  Speaker  down  below,  with  more 
heat  than  warmth. 


34  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

He  had  seen  nine  hundred  wild  beasts  fed  with  peppered 
tongue,  in  a  menagerie  called  U Assemllee  Nationale. 

His  ears  had  rung  often  enough,  for  tha-t  matter. 

This  time  his  heart  beat. 

He  had  been  in  the  principal  courts  of  Europe ;  knew 
what  a  handful  of  gentlefolks  call  "  the  world ; "  had 
experienced  the  hone3'ed  words  of  courtiers;  the  misty 
nothings  of  diplomatists ;  and  the  innocent  prattle  of 
mighty  kings. 

But  hitherto  he  seemed  to  have  undergone  gibberish 
and  jargon : 

Gibberish  and  jargon  —  Political! 

Gibberish  and  jargon  —  Social ! 

Gibberish  and  jargon  —  Theological ! 

Gibberish  and  jargon  —  Positive  ! 

People  had  been  prating.     Jess  had  spoken. 

But  it  is  to  be  observed  he  w^as  under  the  double  effect 
of  eloquence  and  novelty  ;  and  so  situated,  we  overrate 
things,  you  know. 

That  night  he  made  a  provision  for  this  poor  woman, 
in  case  he  should  die  before  next  week. 

"Who  knows?"  said  he,  ''she  is  such  an  unlucky 
woman,'' 

Then  he  w^nt  to  bed,  and  whether  from  the  widow's 
blessing,  or  the  air  of  the  place,  he  slept  like  a  plough- 
boy. 

Leaving  Richard,  Lord  Ipsden,  to  work  out  the  Aber- 
ford  problem  —  to  relieve  poor  people,  one  or  two  of 
wdiom,  like  the  Rutherford,  were  grateful,  the  rest  acted 
it  to  the  life  —  to  receive  now  and  then  a  visit  from 
Christina  Johnstone,  wdio  borrowed  every  mortal  book 
in  his  house,  who  sold  him  fish,  invariably  cheated  him 
by  the  indelible  force  of  habit,  and  then  remorsefully 
undid  the  bargain,  with  a  peevish  entreaty  that  "he 
w^ould  not  be  so  green,  for  there  was  no  doing  business 


CHETSTIE   JOHNSTONE.  35 

"with  hira,"  —  to  be  fastened  upon  by  Plucker,  who,  with 
admirable  smoothness  and  cunning,  wormed  himself  into 
cabin-boy  on  board  the  yacht,  and  man-at-alms  ashore ; 
to  cruise  in  search  of  adventures,  and  meet  nothing 
but  disappointments  ;  to  acquire  a  browner  tint,  a  lighter 
step,  and  a  jacket,  our  story  moves  for  a  while  towards 
humbler  personages. 


36  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Jess  Rutherford,  widow  of  Alexander  Johnstone, 
for  ISTewhaven  wives,  like  great  artists,  change  their  con- 
ditions without  changing  their  names,  was  known  in  the 
town  only  as  a  dour  wife,  a  sour  old  carline.  Whose 
fault  ? 

Do  wooden  faces  and  iron  tongues  tempt  sorrow  to  put 
out  its  snails'  horns  ? 

She  hardly  spoke  to  any  one,  or  any  one  to  her,  but 
four  days  after  the  visit  we  have  described,  people  began 
to  bend  looks  of  sympathy  on  her,  to  step  out  of  their 
way  to  give  her  a  kindly  good-morrow.  After  a  bit,  fish 
and  meal  used  to  be  placed  on  her  table  by  one  neighbor 
or  another  when  she  was  out,  and  so  on.  She  was  at 
first  behindhand  in  responding  to  all  this,  but  by  degrees 
she  thawed  to  those  who  were  thawing  to  her.  Next, 
Saunders  called  on  her,  and  showed  her  a  settlement, 
made  for  her  benefit,  on  certain  lands  in  Lanarkshire. 
She  was  at  ease  for  life. 

The  Almighty  had  seen  her  all  these  years. 

But  how  came  her  neighbors  to  melt  ? 

Because  a  nobleman  had  visited  her. 

Not  exactly,  dear  novel-reader. 

This  was  it. 

That  same  night,  by  a  bright  fire  lighting  up  snowy 
walls,  burnished  copper,  gleaming  candlesticks,  and  a 
dinner-table  floor,  sat  the  mistress  of  the  house,  Christie 
Johnstone,  and  her  brother,  Flucker. 

She  with  a  book,  he  with  his  reflections  opposite  her. 

"Lassie,  hae  ye  ony  siller  past  ye  ?" 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  37 

"  Ay,  lad,  an'  I  mean  to  keep  it ! " 

The  baddish  boy  had  registered  a  vow  to  the  contrary, 
and  proceeded  to  bleed  his  flint  (for  to  do  Christie  justice 
the  process  was  not  very  dissimilar).  Flucker  had  a  ver- 
satile genius  for  making  money ;  he  had  made  it  in  forty 
different  ways,  by  land  and  sea,  tenpence  at  a  time. 

"I  hae  gotten  the  life  o'  Jess  Rutherford,  till  ye,'^ 
said  he. 

"  Giest  then." 

"  I'm  seeking  half  a  crown  for  't,"  said  he. 

Now  he  knew  he  should  never  get  half  a  crown ;  but 
he  also  knew  that  if  he  asked  a  shilling  he  should  be 
beaten  down  to  fourpence. 

So  half  a  crown  was  his  first  bode. 

The  enemy,  with  anger  at  her  heart,  called  up  a  humor- 
ous smile,  and  saying  "an  ye'll  get  saxpence,"  went 
about  some  household  matter ;  in  reality,  to  let  her  pro- 
posal rankle  in  Flucker. 

Flucker  lighted  his  pipe  slowly,  as  one  who  would  not 
do  a  sister  the  injustice  to  notice  so  trivial  a  proposition. 

He  waited  fresh  overtures. 

They  did  not  come. 

Christie  resumed  her  book. 

Then  the  baddish  boy  fixed  his  eye  on  the  fire,  and 
said  softly  and  thoughtfully  to  the  fire,  "  Hech,  what  a 
heap  o'  troubles  yon  woman  has  come  through." 

This  stroke  of  art  was  not  lost.  Christie  looked  up 
from  her  book,  pretended  he  had  spoken  to  her,  gave  a 
fictitious  yawn,  and  reneAved  the  negotiation  with  the 
air  of  one  disposed  to  kill  time. 

She  was  dying  for  the  story. 

Commerce  was  twice  broken  off,  and  renewed  by  each 
j)Ower  in  turn. 

At  last  the  bargain  was  struck  at  fourteen  pence. 

Then  Flucker  came  ovt.  +h"  honest  merchant. 


88  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

He  had  listened  intently,  with  mercantile  views. 

He  had  the  widow's  sorrows  all  off  pat. 

He  was  not  a  bit  affected  himself,  but  by  pure  memory 
he  remembered  where  she  had  been  most  agitated  or 
overcome. 

He  gave  it  Christie,  word  for  word,  and  even  threw  in 
vhat  dramatists  call  "  the  business,"  thus  : 

"  Here  ye  suld  greet "  — 

"  Here  ye'll  play  your  hand  like  a  geraffe." 

"  Geraffe  ?     That's  a  beast,  I'm  thinking." 

"Na;  it's  the  thing  on  the  hill  that  maks  signals." 

"  Telegraph,  ye  fulish  goloshen  !  " 

"  Oo  ay,  telegraph  !     Geraffe's  sunest  said  for  a'." 

Thus  Jess  Rutherford's  life  came  into  Christie  John- 
stone's hands. 

She  told  it  to  a  knot  of  the  natives  next  day ;  it  lost 
nothing,  for  she  was  a  woman  of  feeling,  and  by  intui- 
tion an  artist  of  the  tongue.  She  was  the  best  raconteur 
in  a  place  where  there  are  a  hundred,  male  and  female, 
who  attempt  that  art. 

The  next  day  she  told  it  again,  and  then  inferior  nar- 
rators got  hold  of  it,  and  it  soon  circulated  through  the 
town. 

And  this  was  the  cause  of  the  sudden  sympathy  with 
Jess  Rutherford. 

As  our  prigs  would  say,  — 

"  Art  had  adopted  her  cause  and  adorned  her  tale." 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  39 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  fishing  village  of  Newhaven  is  an  unique  place; 
it  is  a  colony  that  retains  distinct  features  ;  the  people 
seldom  intermarry  with  their  Scotch  neighbors. 

Some  say  the  colony  is  Dutch,  some  Danish,  some 
Flemish.  The  character  and  cleanliness  of  their  female 
costume  points  rather  to  the  latter. 

Fish,  like  horse-flesh,  corrupts  the  mind  and  manners. 

After  a  certain  age,  the  Newhaven  fishwife  is  always 
a  blackguard,  and  ugly ;  but  among  the  younger  speci- 
mens, who  have  not  traded  too  much,  or  come  into  much 
contact  with  larger  towns,  a  charming  modesty,  or  else 
slyness  (such  as  no  man  can  distinguish  from  it,  so  it 
answers  every  purpose),  is  to  be  found,  combined  with 
rare  grace  and  beauty. 

It  is  a  race  of  women  that  the  Northern  sun  peachifies 
instead  of  rosewoodizing. 

On  Sundays  the  majority  sacrifice  appearance  to  fash- 
ion ;  these  turn  out  rainbows  of  silk,  satin,  and  lace.  In 
the  week  they  were  all  grace,  and  no  stays  ;  now  they 
seem  all  stays  and  no  grace.  They  never  look  so  ill  as 
when  they  change  their  "costume"  for  "dress." 

The  men  are  smart  fishermen,  distinguished  from  the 
other  fishermen  of  the  Firth  chiefly  by  their  "  dredging 
song." 

This  old  song  is  money  to  them.     Thus  : 

Dredging  is  practically  very  stiff  rowing  for  ten  hours. 

Now  both  the  Newhaven  men,  and  their  rivals,  are 
agreed  that  this  song  lifts  them  through  more  work  than 
untuned  fishermen  can  manage. 


40  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

I  have  heard  the  song,  and  seen  the  work  done  to  it; 
and  incline  to  think  it  helps  the  oar,  not  only  by  keeping 
the  time  true,  and  the  spirit  alive,  but  also  by  its  favor- 
able action  on  the  lungs.  It  is  sung  in  a  peculiar  way : 
the  sound"  is,  as  it  were,  expelled  from  the  chest  in  a  sort 
of  musical  ejaculations;  and  the  like,  we  know,  was  done 
by  the  ancient  gymnasts,  and  is  done  by  French  bakers, 
in  lifting  their  enormous  dough,  and  by  our  paviors. 

The  song,  in  itself,  does  not  contain  above  seventy 
stock  verses,  but  these  perennial  lines  are  a  nucleus, 
round  which  the  men  improvise  the  topics  of  the  day, 
giving,  I  know  not  for  Avhat  reason,  the  preference  to 
such  as  verge  upon  indelicacy. 

The  men  and  women  are  musical  and  narrative ;  three 
out  of  four  can  sing  a  song  or  tell  a  story,  and  they  omit 
few  opportunities. 

Males  and  females  suck  whiskey  like  milk,  and 
are  quarrelsome  in  proportion ;  the  men  light  (round 
handed),  the  women  fleicht  or  scold,  in  the  form  of  a 
teapot,  —  the  handle  fixed  and  the  spout  sawing  the  air. 

A  singular  custom  prevails  here. 

The  maidens  have  only  one  sweetheart  apiece  ! 

So  the  whole  town  is  in  pairs. 

The  courting  is  all  done  on  Saturday  night,  by  the 
lady's  fire.  It  is  hard  to  keep  out  of  a  groove  in  which 
all  the  town  is  running ;  and  the  Johnstone  had  pos- 
sessed, as  mere  property  —  a  lad  ! 

She  Avas  so  wealthy  that  few  of  them  could  pretend  to 
aspire  to  her,  so  she  selected  for  her  cliattel  a  young  man 
called  Willy  Listou ;  a  youth  of  an  unhappy  turn ;  he 
contributed  nothing  to  hilarity,  his  face  was  a  kill-joy, 
nobody  liked  him  ;  for  this  female  reason  Christie 
distinguished  him. 

He  found  a  divine  supper  every  Saturday  niglit,  in 
her  house  :  he  ate,  and  sighed  !  Christie  fed  him,  and 
laucrhed  at  him. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  41 

Flucker  ditto. 

As  she  neither  fed  nor  laughed  at  any  other  man, 
some  twenty  were  bitterly  jealous  of  Willy  Liston,  and 
this  gave  the  blighted  youth  a  cheerful  moment  or  two. 

But  the  bright  alliance  received  a  check  some  months 
before  our  tale. 

Christie  was  helluo  I'lbrorum !  and  like  others  who 
have  that  taste,  and  can  only  gratify  it  in  the  interval 
of  manual  exercise,  she  read  very  intensely  in  her  hours 
of  study.  A  book  absorbed  her.  She  was  like  a  leech 
on  these  occasions,  non  inissura  cutem :  even  Jean  Carnie, 
her  coadjutor  or  "  neebor,"  as  they  call  it,  found  it  best 
to  keep  out  of  her  way  till  the  book  was  sucked. 

One  Saturday  night  Willy  Liston's  evil  star  ordained 
that  a  gentleman  of  French  origin  and  Spanish  dress, 
called  Gil  Bias,. should  be  the  Johnstone's  companion. 

Willy  Liston  arrived. 

Christie,  who  had  bolted  the  door,  told  him  from  the 
Avindow,  civilly  enough,  but  decidedly,  "  She  would 
excuse  his  company,  that  night." 

"  Vara  weel,"  said  Willy,  and  departed. 

Next  Saturday  —  no  Willy  came. 

Ditto  the  next.     Willy  was  waiting  the  amende. 

Christie  forgot  to  make  it. 

One  day  she  was  passing  the  boats,  Willy  beckoned 
her  mysteriously ;  he  led  her  to  his  boat,  which  was 
called  the  "  Christie  Johnstone ; "  by  the  boat's  side  was 
a  paint-pot  and  brush. 

They  had  not  supped  together  for  five  Saturdays. 

Ergo,  Mr.  Liston  had  painted  out  the  four  first  letters 
of  "  Christie  ;  "  he  now  proceeded  to  paint  out  the  fifth, 
giving  her  to  understand,  that  if  she  allowed  the  whole 
name  to  go,  a  letter  every  blank  Saturday,  her  image 
would  be  gradually,  but  effectually,  obliterated  from  the 
heart  Listonian. 


42  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

jVry  reader  has  done,  Avliat  Listou  did  not,  anticipate 
lier  answer.  She  recommended  him,  whilst  his  hand  was 
in,  to  paint  out  the  entire  name,  and  with  white  paint 
and  a  smaller  brush,  to  substitute  some  other  female 
appellation.     So  saying,  she  tripped  off. 

Mr.  Listou  on  this  was  guilty  of  the  following  incon- 
sistency ;  he  pressed  the  paint  carefully  out  of  the  brush 
into  the  pot :  having  thus  economized  his  material,  he 
hurled  the  pot  which  contained  his  economy,  at  "tie 
Johnstone,"  he  then  adjourned  to  the  "Peacock,"  and 
"away  at  once  with  love  and  reason." 

Thenceforth,  when  men  asked  who  was  Christie  John- 
stone's lad,  the  answer  used  to  be,  "  She's  seeking  ane." 
Quelle  horreur  ! 

Newhaven  doesn't  know  everything,  but  my  intelligent 
reader  suspects,  and  if  confirming  his  suspicions  can 
reconcile  him  to  our  facts^  it  will  soon  be  done. 

But  he  must  come  with  us  to  Edinburgh  ;  it's  only 
three  miles. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  43 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  LITTLE  band  of  paiuters  came  into  Edinburgh  from 
a  professional  walk.  Three  were  of  Edinburgh :  Groove, 
aged  fifty ;  Jones  and  Hyacinth,  young ;  the  latter  long- 
haired. 

With  them  was  a  young  Englishman,  the  leader  of  the 
expedition  —  Charles  Gatty. 

His  step  was  elastic,  and  his  manner  wonderfully  ani- 
mated, without  loudness. 

"  A  bright  day,"  said  he.  "  The  sun  forgot  where  he 
was,  and  shone ;  everything  was  in  favor  of  art." 

"Oh  dear,  no,"  replied  old  Groove,  "not  where  I  was." 

"  Why,  what  was  the  matter  ?  " 

"  The  flies  kept  buzzing  and  biting,  and  sticking  in  the 
work :  that's  the  worst  of  out  o'  doors  ! " 

'•'  The  flies  !  is  that  all  ?  Swear  the  spiders  in  special 
constables  next  time,"  cried  Gatty.  "  We  shall  win  the 
day :  "  and  light  shot  into  his  hazel  eye. 

"  The  world  will  not  always  put  up  with  the  humbugs  of 
the  brush,  who,  to  imitate  Nature,  turn  their  back  on  her. 
Paint  an  out-o'-door  scene  in-doors  !  I  swear  by  the  sun 
it's  a  lie  !  the  one  stupid,  impudent  lie,  that  glitters 
amongst  the  lies  of  vulgar  art,  like  Satan  amongst  Belial, 
Mammon,  and  all  those  beggars. 

"Now  look  here  ;  the  barren  outlines  of  a  scene  must 
be  looked  at,  to  be  done ;  hence  the  sketching  system 
slop-sellers  of  the  Academy !  but  the  million  delicacies 
of  light,  shade,  and  color,  can  be  trusted  to  memory,  can 
they  ?  " 

"It's  a  lie  big  enough  to  shake  the  earth  out  of  her 


44  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

course ;  if  any  part  of  the  work  could  be  trusted  to 
memory  or  imagination,  it  happens  to  be  the  bare  out- 
lines, and  they  can't.  The  million  subtleties  of  light  and 
color  ;  learn  them  by  heart,  and  say  them  off  on  canvas  ! 
the  highest  angel  in  the  sky  must  have  his  eye  upon 
them,  and  look  devilish  sharp,  too,  or  he  shan't  paint 
them  :  I  give  him  Charles  Gatty's  word  for  that." 

"  That's  very  eloquent,  I  call  it,"  said  Jones. 

"  Yes,"  said  poor  old  Groove,  "  the  lad  will  never  make 
a  painter." 

"  Yes,  I  shall,  Groove  ;  at  least  I  hope  so,  but  it  must  be 
a  long  time  first." 

"  1  never  knew  a  painter  Avho  could  talk  and  paint 
both,"  explained  Mr.  Groove. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Gatty.  ■'  Then  I'll  say  but  one  word 
more,  and  it  is  this.  The  artifice  of  painting  is  old 
enough  to  die ;  it  is  time  the  art  was  born.  Whenever  it 
does  come  into  the  world,  you  will  see  no  more  dead 
corpses  of  trees,  grass,  and  water,  robbed  of  their  life, 
the  sunlight,  and  flung  vipon  canvas  in  a  studio,  by  the 
light  of  a  cigar,  and  a  lie  —  and"  — 

"  How  much  do  you  expect  for  your  picture  ?  "  inter- 
rupted Jones. 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  it?  With  these  little 
swords  (waving  his  brush),  we'll  fight  for  nature-light, 
truth-light,  and  sun-light,  against  a  world  in  arms, — no, 
worse,  in  swaddling-clothes." 

"  With  these  little  swerrds,"  replied  poor  old  Groove, 
"  we  shall  cut  our  own  throats  if  we  go  against  people's 
prejudices." 

The  young  artist  laughed  the  old  daubster  a  merry 
defiance,  and  then  separated  from  the  party,  for  his  lodg- 
ings were  down  the  street. 

He  had  not  left  them  long,  before  a  most  musical  voice 
was  heard,  crying, 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE,  45 

"  A  caallerr  owoo  ! " 

And  two  young  fishwives  hove  in  sight. 

The  boys  recognized  one  of  them  as  Gatty's  sweet- 
heart. 

"  Is  he  in  love  with  her  ?  "  inquired  Jones. 

Hyacinth  the  long-haired  undertook  to  reply. 

"  He  loves  her  better  than  anything  in  the  world, 
except  Art.  Love  and  Art  are  two  beautiful  things," 
whined  Hyacinth. 

"  She,  too,  is  beautiful.  I  have  done  her,"  added  he 
with  a  simper. 

"  In  oil  ?  "  asked  Groove. 

"  In  oil  ?  no,  in  verse,  here,"  and  he  took  out  a  paper. 

"  Then  hadn't  we  better  cut  ?  you  might  propose  read- 
ing them,"  said  poor  old  Groove. 

"  Have  you  any  oysters  ?  "  inquired  Jones  of  the  Carnie 
and  the  Johnstone,  who  were  now  alongside. 

"  Plenty,"  answered  Jean.     "  Hae  ye  ony  siller  ?  " 

The  artists  looked  at  one  another,  and  didn't  all  speak 
at  once. 

"I,  madam,"  said  old  Groove,  insinuatingly,  to  Christie, 
"  am  a  friend  of  Mr.  Gatty's :  perhaps,  on  that  account, 
you  would  lend  me  an  oyster  or  two." 

"  Na,"  said  Jean,  sternly. 

"  Hyacinth,"  said  Jones,  sarcastically,  "  give  them  your 
verses,  perhaps  that  will  soften  them." 

Hyacinth  gave  his  verses,  descriptive  of  herself,  to 
Christie. 

This  youngster  was  one  of  those  who  mind  other 
people's  business. 

Alienls  studiis  delectatus  contenipsit  suum. 

His  destiny  was  to  be  a  bad  painter,  so  he  wanted  to 
be  an  execrable  poet. 

All  this  morning  he  had  been  doggerelling,  when  he 
ought  to  have  been  daubing;  and  now  he  will  have  to 
sup  off  a  colored  print,  if  he  sups  at  all. 


46  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

Christie  read,  blushed,  and  put  the  verses  in  her  bosom. 

"  Come  awa,  Custy,"  said  Jean. 

"  Hets,"  said  Christie,  "  gie  the  puir  lads  twarree 
oysters,  what  the  waur  will  we  be  ? " 

So  they  opened  oysters  for  them ;  and  Hyacinth,  the 
long-haired,  looked  down  on  the  others  with  sarcastico- 
benignant  superiority.  He  had  conducted  a  sister  art  to 
the  aid  of  his  brother  brushes. 

"The  poet's  empire,  all  our  hearts  allow; 
But  doggerel's  power  was  never  known  till  now.'' 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  47 


CHAPTER   VII. 

At  the  commencement  of  last  cliapter,  Charles  Gatty, 
artist,  was  going  to  usher  in  a  new  state  of  things,  true 
art,  etc.  Wales  was  to  be  painted  in  Wales,  not  Poland 
Street. 

He  and  live  or  six  more  youngsters  were  to  be  in  the 
foremost  files  of  truth,  and  take  the  world  by  storm. 

This  was  at  two  o'clock;  it  is  now  five;  whereupon 
the  posture  of  affairs,  the  prospects  of  art,  the  face  of 
the  world,  the  nature  of  things,  are  quite  the  reverse. 

In  the  artist's  room,  on  the  floor,  was  a  small  child, 
whose  movements,  and  they  were  many,  were  viewed 
with  huge  dissatisfaction  by  Charles  Gatty,  Esq,  This 
personage,  pencil  in  hand,  sat  slouching  and  morose, 
looking  gloomily  at  his  intractable  model. 

Things  were  going  on  very  badly ;  he  had  been  wait- 
ing two  hours  for  an  infantine  pose,  as  common  as  dirt, 
and  the  little  viper  would  die  first. 

Out  of  doors  everything  was  nothing,  for  the  sun  was 
obscured,  and  to  all  appearance  extinguished  forever. 

"  Ah  !  Mr.  Groove,"  cried  he,  to  that  worthy,  who 
peeped  in  at  that  moment;  "you  are  right,  it  is  better 
to  plough  away  upon  canvas  blindfold,  as  our  grand- 
fathers, no,  grandmothers,  used,  than  to  kill  ourselves 
toiling  after  such  coy  ladies  as  Nature  and  Truth." 

"  A  weel,  I  dinna  ken,  sirr,"  replied  Groove,  in  smooth 
tones.  "  I  didna  like  to  express  my  warm  approbation 
of  you  before  the  lads,  for  fear  of  making  them  jealous." 

"  They  be  —    No  ! " 

"I  ken  what  ye  wad  say,  sirr,  an  it  wad  hae  been  a 


48  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

vara  just  an'  sprightly  observaation.  Aweel,  between 
oursels,  I  look  upon  ye  as  a  young  gentleman  of  amazing 
talent  and  moedesty.  Man,  ye  dinna  do  yoursel  justice; 
ye  should  be  in  th'  Academy  —  at  the  hede  o't." 

"  Mr.  Groove,  I  am  a  poor  fainting  pilgrim  on  the  road, 
where  stronger  spirits  have  marched  erect  before  me." 

'^  A  faintin  pelgrim  !  Deil  a  frights  o'  ye,  ye're  a  brisk 
and  bonny  lad.  Ah,  sirr,  in  my  juvenile  days  we  didna 
fash  wi'  nature  and  truth,  an'  the  like." 

"  The  like  !  What  is  like  nature  and  truth,  except 
themselves  ?  " 

'''  Vara  true,  sirr,  vara  true ;  and  sae  I  doot  I  will  never 
attain  the  height  o'  profeeciency  ye  hae  reached.  An'  at 
this  vara  moment,  sir,"  continued  Groove,  with  delicious 
solemnity  and  mystery,  "ye  see  before  ye,  sir,  a  man 
wha  is  in  maist  dismal  want-^o'  ten  shellen."  (A  pause.) 
"  If  your  superior  talent  has  put  ye  in  possession  of  that 
sum,  ye  would  obleege  me  infinitely  by  a  temporary 
accommodaation,  Mr.  Gaattie." 

"  Why  did  you  not  come  to  the  point  at  once  ?  "  cried 
Gatty,  brusquely,  ''instead  of  humbling  me  with  unde- 
served praise.  There  "  —  Groove  held  out  his  hand,  but 
made  a  wry  face  when,  instead  of  money,  Gatty  put  a 
sketch  into  his  hand  —  "there,"  said  Gatty,  "that  is  a 
lie." 

"  How  can  it  be  a  lee  ? "  said  the  other,  with  sour 
inadvertence.  "  How  can  it  be  a  lee,  when  I  hae  na 
spoken  ? " 

"  You  don't  understand  me.  That  sketch  is  a  libel  on 
a  poor  cow  and  an  unfortunate  oak-tree.  I  did  them  at 
the  Academy.  They  had  never  done  me  any  wrong,  poor 
things  ;  they  suffered  unjustly.  You  take  them  to  a 
shop,  swear  they  are  a  tree  and  a  cow,  and  some  fool, 
that  never  really  looked  into  a  cow  or  a  tree^  will  give 
you  ten  shillings  for  them." 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  49 

*  Are  ye  sure,  lad  ?  " 

*'  I  am  sure.  Mr.  Groove,  sir,  if  you  cannot  sell  a  lie 
for  ten  shillings,  you  are  not  fit  to  live  in  this  world ; 
where  is  the  lie  that  will  not  sell  for  ten  shillings  ?  " 

"  I  shall  think  the  better  o'  lees  all  my  days,  sir ;  your 
words  are  inspeeriting."  And  away  went  Groove  with 
the  sketch. 

Gatty  reflected,  and  stopped  him. 

"On  second  thoughts,  Groove,  you  must  not  ask  ten 
shillings ;  you  must  ask  twenty  pounds  for  that  rub- 
bish." ^ 

"  Twenty  pund !     What  for  will  I  seek  twenty  pund  ?  " 

"Simply  because  people  that  would  not  give  you  ten 
shillings  for  it  will  offer  you  eleven  pounds  for  it  if  you 
ask  twenty  pounds  " 

"  The  fules,"  roared  Groove.  "  Twenty  pund,  hem  ! " 
He  looked  closer  into  it.  "  For  a',''  said  he,  "  I  begin  to 
obsairve  it  is  a  work  of  great  merit.  I'll  seek  twenty 
pund;  an'  I'll  no  tak  less  than  fifteen  schelln,  at  present." 

The  visit  of  this  routine  painter  did  not  cheer  our 
artist. 

The  small  child  got  a  coal,  and  pounded  the  floor  with 
it,  like  a  machine  incapable  of  fatigue.  So  the  wished- 
for  pose  seemed  more  remote  than  ever. 

The  day  waxed  darker,  instead  of  lighter ;  Mr.  Gatty 's 
reflections  took  also  a  still  more  sombre  hue. 

"Even  Xature  spites  us,"  thought  he,  "because  we 
love  her. 

"  Then  cant,  tradition,  numbers,  slang,  and  money  are 
against  us ;  the  least  of  these  is  singly  a  match  for  truth. 
We  shall  die  of  despair  or  paint  cobwebs  in  Bedlam;  and 
I  am  faint,  weary  of  a  hopeless  struggle ;  and  one  man's 
brush  is  truer  than  mine,  another's  is  bolder,  — my  hand 
and  eye  are  not  in  tune.  Ah  !  no ;  I  shall  never,  never, 
never  be  a  painter." 
4 


50  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

These  last  words  broke  audibly  from  him,  as  his  head 
went  down  almost  to  his  knees, 

A  hand  was  placed  on  his  shoulder,  as  a  flake  of  snow 
falls  on  the  water.  It  was  Christie  Johnstone,  radiant, 
who  had  glided  in  unobserved. 

"  What's  wrang  wi'  ye,  my  lad  ?  " 

"  The  sun  is  gone  to  the  devil,  for  one  thing." 

"  Hech  !  heeh  !  ye'll  no  be  long  ahint  him ;  div  ye  no 
think  shame." 

"And  I  want  that  little  brute  just  to  do  so,  and  he'd 
die  first." 

"  Oh,  ye  villain  !  to  ca'  a  bairn  a  brute  ;  there's  but  ae 
brute  here,  an'  it's  no  you,  Jamie,  nor  me ;  is  it,  my 
lamb  ?  " 

She  then  stepped  to  the  window. 

"  It's  clear  to  windward ;-  in  ten  minutes  ye'll  hae 
plenty  sun.  Tak  your  tools  noo."  And  at  the  word 
she  knelt  on  the  floor,  whipped  out  a  paper  of  sugar- 
plums, and  said  to  him  slie  had  christened  "  Jamie,"  — 
"  Heh  !  Here's  sweeties  till  ye."  Out  went  Jamie's 
arms,  as  if  he  had  been  a  machine,  and  she  had  pulled 
the  right  string. 

"  Ah,  that  will  do,"  said  Gatty,  and  sketched  away. 

Unfortunatelj^  Jamie  was  quickly  arrested  on  the  way 
to  immortality  by  his  mother,  who  came  in,  saying,  — 

''I  maun  hae  my  bairn,  — he  canna  be  aye  wasting  his 
time  here." 

This  sally  awakened  the  satire  that  ever  lies  ready  in 
piscatory  bosoms. 

"  Wasting  his  time  !  ye're  no  blate.  Oh,  ye'll  be  for 
taking  him  to  the  college  to  laern  pheesick,  —  and  teach 
maenners." 

"Ye  needna  begin  on  me,"  said  the  woman,  "I'm  no 
match  for  Newhaven." 

So  saying  she  cut  short  the  dispute  by  carrying  off  the 
gristle  of  contention. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  51 

"  Another  enemy  to  art,"  said  Gattj,  hurling  away  his 
penciL 

The  young  fishwife  inquired  if  there  were  any  more 
griefs  :  what  she  had  heard  ]iad  not  accounted,  to  her 
reason,  for  her  comjDanion's  depression. 

"  Are  ye  sick,  Liddy  ?  "  said  she. 

"  No,  Christie,  not  sick,  but  quite,  quite  down  in  the 
mouth." 

She  scanned  him  thirty  seconds. 

"  What  had  ye  till  your  dinner  ?  " 

"  I  forget." 

"  A  choep,  likely  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  was." 

"  Or  maybe  it  was  a  steak  ?  " 

"  I  dare  say  it  was  a  steak." 

"  Taste  my  girdle  cake,  that  I'v^e  brought  for  ye." 

She  gave  him  a  piece  ;  he  ate  it  rapidly,  and  looked 
gratefully  at  her. 

"Noo,  div  ye  no  think  shame  to  look  me  in  the  face  ? 
Ye  hae  na  dined  ava."     And  she  wore  an  injured  look. 

"  Sit  ye  there  ;  it's  ower  late  for  dinner,  but  ye'll  get  a 
cup  tea :  doon  i'  the  mooth,  nae  wonder,  when  naething 
gangs  doon  your  "  — 

In  a  minute  she  placed  a  tea-tray,  and  ran  into  thft 
kitchen  with  a  teapot. 

The  next  moment  a  yell  was  heard,  and  she  returned 
laughing  with  another  teapot. 

"  The  wife  had  maskit  her  tea  till  hersel',"  said  this 
lawless  forager. 

Tea  and  cake  on  the  table  —  beauty  seated  by  his  side 
—  all  in  less  than  a  minute. 

He  offered  her  a  piece  of  cake. 

"  Na  !  I  am  no  for  any." 

"  Nor  I,  then,"  said  he. 

«Hets!  eat,  I  tell  ye." 


62  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

He  replied  by  putting  a  bit  to  her  heavenly  mouth. 

"Ye're  awfu'  opinionated,"  said  she,  with  a  counte- 
nance that  said  nothing  should  induce  her,  and  eating  it 
almost  contemporaneously. 

"Put  plenty  sugar,"  added  she,  referring  to  the  Chinese 
infusion  ;  "inind,  I  liae  a  sweet  tooth." 

"  You  have  a  sweet  set,"  said  he,  approaching  another 
morsel. 

They  showed  themselves  by  way  of  smile,  and  con- 
firmed the  accusation. 

''Aha,  lad!"  answered  she;  "they've  been  the  death 
o'  mony  a  herrin'  !  " 

"  Now,  what  does  that  mean  in  English,  Christie  ?  " 

"My  grinders  —  (a  full  stop.) 

"  Which  you  approve  —  (a  full  stop.) 

"  Have  been  fatal  —  (a  full  stop.) 

"  To  many  fishes  I  " 

Christie  prided  herself  on  her  English,  which  she  had 
culled  from  books. 

Then  he  made  her  drink  from  the  cup,  and  was  osten- 
tatious in  putting  his  lips  to  the  same  part  of  the  brim. 

Then  she  left  the  table,  and  inspected  all  things. 

She  came  to  his  drawers,  opened  one,  and  was  horror- 
struck. 

There  were  coats  and  trousers,  with  their  limbs  inter- 
changeably intertwined,  waistcoats,  shirts,  and  cigars, 
hurled  into  chaos. 

She  instantly  took  the  drawer  bodily  out,  brought  it, 
leaned  it  against  the  tea-table,  pointed  silently  into  it, 
with  an  air  of  majestic  reproach,  and  awaited  the  result. 

"I  can  find  whatever  I  want,"  said  the  unblushing 
bachelor,  "  except  money." 

"  Siller  does  na  bide  wi'  slovens  !  hae  ye  often  siccan 
a  gale  o'  wind  in  your  drawer  ?  " 

*'  Every  day  !     Speak  English ! " 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  53 

"Aweel!  How  <Zo  you  do?  that's  Ennglish  !  I  daiir 
say." 

"Jolly  !"  cried  he,  with  his  mouth  full. 

Christie  was  now  folding  up  and  neatly  arranging  his 
clothes. 

"  Will  you  ever,  ever  be  a  painter  ?  " 

"  I  am  a  painter  !     I  could  paint  the  devil  pea-green  ! " 

"  Dinna  speak  o'  yon  lad,  Chairles  ;  it's  no  canny." 

"No!  I  am  going  to  paint  an  angel;  the  prettiest, 
cleverest  girl  in  Scotland,  '  The  Snowdrop  of  the  North.' " 

And  he  dashed  into  his  bedroom  to  find  a  canvas. 

"  Hech  !  "  reflected  Christie.  "  Thir  Ennglish  hae 
flattering  tongues,  as  sure  as  dethe ;  '  The  Suawdrap 
o'  the  Norrth  ! ' " 


54  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

Gatty's  back  was  hardly  turned  when  a  visitor  arrived 
and  inquired,  "  Is  Mr.  Gatty  at  home  ?  " 

"  What's  your  will  wi'  him  ?  "  was  the  Scottish  reply. 

"  Will  you  give  him  this  ?  "    • 

"  What  est  ?  " 

"  Are  you  fond  of  asking  questions  ?  "  inquired  the 
man. 

"Ay,  and  fules  canna  answer  them  !  "  retorted  Christie. 

The  little  document  which  the  man,  in  retiring,  left 
with  Christie  Johnstone,  purported  to  come  from  one 
Victoria,  who  seemed,  at  first  sight,  disposed  to  show 
Charles  Gatty  civilities.  "  Victoria  —  to  Charles  Gatty, 
greeting  !  (salufem).^'  Christie  was  much  struck  with 
this  instance  of  royal  affability  ;  she  read  no  farther,  but 
began  to  think  :  "  Victoree  !  that's  the  Queen  hersel.  A 
letter  fra  the  Queen  to  a  painter  lad  !  Picters  will  rise 
i'  the  mairket  —  it  will  be  an  order  to  paint  the  bairns. 
I  hae  brought  him  luck  ;  I  am  real  pleased."  And  on 
Gatty's  return,  canvas  in  hand,  she  whipped  the  docu- 
ment behind  her,  and  said  archly,  "  I  hae  something  for 
ye  ;  a  tecket  fra  a  leddy  ;  ye'U  no  want  siller  fra  this 
day." 

"  Indeed ! " 

"  Ay  !  indeed,  fra  a  great  leddy ;  it's  vara  gude  o'  me 
to  gie  ye  it ;  heh  !  tak  it." 

He  did  take  it,  looked  stupefied,  looked  again,  sunk 
into  a  chair,  and  glared  at  it. 

"  Laddy  ! "  said  Christie. 

"  This  is  a  new  step  on  the  downward  path,"  said  the 
poor  painter. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  55 

"Is  it  no  an  orrder  to  paint  the  young  Prence  ?"  said 
Christie,  faintly. 

"No!"  almost  shrieked  the  victim.  "It's  a  writ!  1 
owe  a  lot  of  money." 

"  0  Chairles  ! " 

"  See  !  I  borrowed  sixty  pounds  six  months  ago  of  a 
friend,  so  now  I  owe  eighty  ! " 

"  All  right !  "  giggled  the  unfriendly  visitor  at  the 
door,  whose  departure  had  been  more  or  less  ficti- 
tious. 

Christie,  by  an  impulse,  not  justifiable,  but  natural, 
drew  her  oyster-knife  out,  and  this  time  the  man  really 
went  away. 

"  Hairtless  mon  ! "  cried  she,  "  could  he  no  do  his  ain 
dirrty  work,  and  no  gar  me  gie  the  puir  lad  th'  action, 
and  he  likeit  me  sae  weel ! "  and  she  began  to  whimper. 

"And  love  you  more  now,"  said  he;  " don't  you  cry, 
dear,  to  add  to  my  vexation." 

"Na!  I'll  no  add  to  your  vexation,"  and  she  gulped 
down  her  tears. 

"Besides,  I  have  pictures  painted  worth  tAVO  hundred 
pounds  ;  this  is  only  for  eighty.  To  be  sure  you  can't 
sell  them  for  two  hundred  pence  when  you  want.  .So  I 
shall  go  to  jail,  but  they  won't  keep  me  long." 

Then  he  took  a  turn,  and  began  to  fall  into  the  artistic, 
or  true  view  of  matters,  which,  indeed,  was  never  long 
absent  from  him. 

"  Look  here,  Christie,"  said  he,  "  I  am  sick  of  conven- 
tional assassins,  humbugging  models,  with  dirty  beards, 
that  knit  their  brows,  and  try  to  look  murder ;  they  never 
murdered  so  much  as  a  tomcat :  I  always  go  in  for  the 
real  thing,  and  here  I  shall  find  it." 

"Dinna  gang  in  there,  lad,  for  ony  favor." 

"  Then  I  shall  find  the  accessories  of  a  picture  I  have 
in   my  head  —  chains   with    genuine   rust,   and   ancient 


56  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

mouldering  stones,  with  the  stains  of  time."  His  eye 
brightened  at  the  prospect. 

"  You  among  fiefs,  and  chains,  and  stanes  !  Ye'll  break 
my  hairt,  laddy,  ye'll  no  be  easy  till  you  break  my 
hairt : "  and  this  time  the  tears  wovild  not  be  denied. 

"  I  love  you  for  crying ;  don't  cry  ; "  and  he  fished 
from  the  chaotic  drawer  a  cambric  handkerchief,  with 
which  he  dried  her  tears  as  they  fell. 

It  is  my  firm  belief  she  cried  nearly  twice  as  much  as 
she  really  wanted  to ;  she  contrived  to  make  the  grief 
hers,  the  sympathy  his.  Suddenly  she  stopped,  and 
said, — 

"  I'm  daft ;  ye'll  accept  a  lane  o'  the  siller  fra  me,  will 
ye  no  ?  " 

"No!"  said  he.  "And  where  could  you  find  eighty 
pound  ?  " 

"  Auchty  pvmd,"  cried  she,  "  it's  no  auchty  pund  that 
will  ding  Christie  Johnstone,  laddy.  I  hae  boats  and  nets 
worth  twa  auchtys ;  and  I  hae  forty  pund  laid  by ;  and 
I  hae  seven  hundred  pund  at  London,  but  that  I  canna 
meddle.  My  feyther  lent  it  the  King  or  the  Queen,  I 
dinna  justly  mind ;  she  pays  me  the  interest  twice  the 
year.  Sae  ye  ken  I  could  na  be  sae  dirty  as  seek  my 
siller,  when  she  pays  me  th'  interest :  to  the  very  day, 
ye  ken.  She's  just  the  only  one  o'  a'  my  debtors  that's 
hoenest,  but  never  heed,  ye'll  no  gang  to  jail." 

"  I'll  hold  my  tongue,  and  sacrifice  my  pictures," 
thought  Charles. 

"  Cheer  up ! "  said  Christie,  mistaking  the  nature  of 
his  thoughts,  "  for  it  did  na  come  fra  Victoree  hersel'. 
It  wad  smell  o'  the  musk,  ye  ken.  Na,  it's  just  a  wheen 
blackguards  at  London  that  makes  use  o'  her  name  to 
torment  puir  folk.  Wad  she  pairsecute  a  puir  lad  ? 
No  likely." 

She  then  asked  questions,  some  of  which  were  embar- 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  57 

rassing.  One  thing  he  could  never  succeed  in  making 
her  understand,  how,  since  it  was  sixty  pounds  he  bor- 
rowed, it  could  be  eighty  pounds  he  owed. 

Then  once  more  she  promised  him  her  protection,  bade 
him  be  of  good  cheer,  and  left  him. 

At  the  door  she  turned,  and  said,  "Chairles,  here's  an 
auld  wife  seeking  ye,"  and  vanished. 

These  two  young  people  had  fallen  acquainted  at  a 
Newhaven  wedding.  Christie,  belonging  to  no  one,  had 
danced  with  him  all  the  night,  they  had  walked  under 
the  stars  to  cool  themselves,  for  dancing  reels  with  heart 
and  soul  is  not  quadrilling. 

Then  he  had  seen  his  beautiful  partner  in  Edinburgh, 
and  made  a  sketch  of  her,  which  he  gave  her ;  and  by 
and  by  he  used  to  run  down  to  Kewhaven,  and  stroll 
up  and  down  a  certain  green  lane  near  the  town. 

Next,  on  Sunday  evenings,  a  long  walk  together,  and 
then  it  came  to  visits  at  his  place  now  and  then. 

And  here  Raphael  and  Fornarina  were  inverted,  our 
artist  used  to  work,  and  Cliristie  tell  him  stories  the 
while. 

And  as  her  voice  curled  round  his  heart,  he  used  to 
smile  and  look,  and  lay  inspired  touches  on  his  subject. 

And  she,  an  artist  of  the  tongue  (without  knowing 
herself  one),  used  to  make  him  grave,  or  gay,  or  sad,  at 
will,  and  watch  the  effect  of  her  art  upon  his  counte- 
nance ;  and  a  very  pretty  art  it  is  —  the  viva  voce  story- 
tellers —  and  a  rare  one  amongst  the  nations  of  Europe. 

Christie  had  not  learned  it  in  a  day  ;  when  she  began, 
she  used  to  tell  them  like  the  other  Newhaven  people, 
with  a  noble  impartiality  of  detail,  wearisome  to  the 
hearer. 

But  latterly  she  had  learned  to  seize  the  salient  parts 
of  a  narrative  ;  her  voice  had  compass,  and,  like  all  fine 
speakers,  she  travelled  over  a  great  many  notes  in  speak- 


68  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

ing ;  lier  low  tones  were  gorgeously  rich,  her  upper  tones 
full  and  sweet ;  all  this,  and  her  beauty,  made  the  hours 
she  gave  him  very  sweet  to  our  poor  artist. 

He  Avas  wont  to  bask  in  her  music,  and  tell  her  in 
return  how  he  loved  her,  and  how  happy  they  were  both 
to  be  as  soon  as  he  had  acquired  a  name,  for  a  name  was 
wealth,  he  told  her.  And  although  Christie  Johnstone 
did  not  let  him  see  how  much  she  took  all  this  to  heart 
and  believed  it,  it  was  as  sweet  music  to  her,  as  her  own 
honeysuckle  breath  to  him. 

She  improved  him. 

He  dropped  cigars,  and  medical  students,  and  similar 
abominations. 

Christie's  cool,  fresh  breath,  as  she  hung  over  him 
while  painting,  suggested  to  him  that  smoking  might, 
peradventure,  be  a  sin  against  nature  as  well  as  against 
cleanliness. 

And  he  improved  her ;  she  learned  from  art  to  look 
into  nature  (the  usual  process  of  mind). 

She  had  noticed  too  little  the  flickering  gold  of  the 
leaves  at  evening,  the  purple  hills,  and  the  shifting 
stories  and  glories  of  the  sky ;  but  now,  whatever  she 
saw  him  try  to  imitate,  she  learned  to  examine.  She 
was  a  woman,  and  admired  sunset,  etc.,  for  this  boy's 
sake,  and  her  whole  heart  expanded  with  a  new  sensation 
that  softened  her  manner  to  all  the  world,  and  brightened 
her  personal  rays. 

This  charming  picture  of  mutual  affection  had  hitherto 
been  admired  only  by  those  who  figured  in  it. 

But  a  visitor  had  now  arrived  on  purpose  to  inspect  it, 
etc.,  attracted  by  report. 

A  friend  had  considerately  informed  Mrs.  Gatty,  the 
artist's  mother,  and  she  had  instantly  started  from 
Newcastle. 

This  was  the  old  lady  Christie  discovered  on  the  stairs. 


OUR   ARTIST    USED    TO   WORK,    AND    CHRISTIE    TELL    HIM    STORIES    THE 

WHILE. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  59 

Her  sudden  appearance  took  her  son's  breath  away. 

No  human  event  was  less  likely  than  that  she  should 
be  there,  yet  there  she  was. 

After  the  first  surprise  and  affectionate  greetings,  a 
misgiving  crossed  him,  "  She  must  know  about  the  writ." 
It  was  impossible ;  but  our  minds  are  so  constituted, 
when  we  are  guilty,  Ave  fear  that  others  know  what  we 
know. 

Now  Gatty  was  particularly  anxious  she  should  not 
know  about  this  writ,  for  he  had  incurred  the  debt  by 
acting  against  her  advice. 

Last  3'ear  he  commenced  a  picture  in  which  was  Dur- 
ham Cathedral :  his  mother  bade  him  stay  quietly  at 
home,  and  paint  the  cathedral  and  its  banks  from  a 
print,  "  as  any  other  painter  would,"  observed  she. 

But  this  was  not  the  lad's  system :  he  spent  five 
months  on  the  spot,  and  painted  his  picture,  but  he  had 
to  borrow  sixty  pounds  to  do  this ;  the  condition  of  this 
loan  was,  that  in  six  months  he  should  either  pay  eighty 
pounds,  or  finish,  and  hand  over,  a  certain  half-finished 
picture. 

He  did  neither;  his  new  subject  thrust  aside  his  old 
one,  and  he  had  no  money ;  err/o  his  friend,  a  picture- 
dealer,  who  had  found  artists  slippery  in  money-matters, 
followed  him  up  sharp,  as  we  see. 

"  There  is  nothing  the  matter,  I  hope,  mother.  What 
is  it  ?  " 

"  I'm  tired,  Charles."  He  brought  her  a  seat :  she  sat 
down. 

"  I  did  not  come  from  Newcastle  at  my  age  for  noth- 
ing ;  you  have  formed  an  improper  acquaintance." 

"  I,  who  ?     Is  it  Jack  Adams  ?  " 

"  Worse  than  any  Jack  Adams  !  " 

"  "VYho  can  that  be  ?  Jenkyns,  mother,  because  he 
does  the  same  things  as  Jack,  and  pretends  to  be  reli- 
gious." 


60  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"It  is  a  female,  — a  fishwife.     0  my  son  !" 

"  Christie  Johnstone  an  improper  acquaintance  ! "  said 
lie  :  "  why,  I  was  good  for  nothing  till  I  knew  her  ;  she 
has  made  me  so  good,  mother,  so  steady,  so  industrious, 
you  will  never  have  to  find  fault  with  me  again." 

"  Nonsense  !  a  woman  that  sells  fish  in  the  streets  !  " 

"  But  you  have  not  seen  her.  She  is  beautiful ;  her 
mind  is  not  in  fish :  her  mind  grasps  the  beautiful  and 
the  good :  she  is  a  companion  for  princes !  What  am  I 
that  she  wastes  a  thought  or  a  ray  of  music  on  me  ? 
Heaven  bless  her  !  She  reads  our  best  authors,  and 
never  forgets  a  Avord ;  and  she  tells  me  beautiful  stories, 
—  sometimes  they  make  me  cry,  for  her  voice  is  a  musio 
that  goes  straight  to  my  heart." 

"A  woman  that  does  not  even  wear  the  clothes  of  a 
lady." 

"  It  is  the  only  genuine  costume  in  these  islands  not 
beneath  a  painter's  notice." 

"Look  at  me,  Charles;  at  your  mother." 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  he  nervously. 

"You  must  part  with  her,  or  kill  me." 

He  started  from  his  seat  and  began  to  flutter  up  and 
down  the  room.  Poor  excitable  creature  !  "  Part  with 
her !  "  cried  he ;  "I  shall  never  be  a  painter  if  I  do ; 
what  is  to  keep  my  heart  warm  when  the  sun  is  hid, 
when  the  birds  are  silent,  when  difficulty  looks  a  mount- 
ain, and  success  a  molehill?  What  is  an  artist  without 
love  ?  How  is  he  to  bear  up  against  his  disappointments 
from  within,  his  mortification  from  without  ?  the  great 
ideas  he  has  and  cannot  grasp,  and  all  the  forms  of  igno- 
rance that  sting  him,  from  stupid  insensibility  down  to 
clever,  shallow  criticism  ?  " 

"  Come  back  to  common-sense,"  said  the  old  lady 
coldly  and  grimly. 

He    looked   uneasy ;    common-sense   had   often   been 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  61 

quoted  against  him,  and  common-sense  had  always  proved 
right. 

"■  Come  back  to  common-sense.  Slie  shall  not  be  your 
mistress,  and  she  cannot  bear  your  name  :  you  must  part 
some  day,  because  you  cannot  come  together,  and  now  is 
the  best  time." 

"Not  be  together?  all  our  lives,  all  our  lives,  ay," 
cried  he,  rising  into  enthusiasm,  "  hundreds  of  years  to 
come  will  we  two  be  together  before  men's  eyes.  I  will 
be  an  immortal  painter,  that  the  world  and  time  may 
cherish  the  features  I  have  loved.  I  love  her,  mother," 
added  he,  with  a  tearful  tenderness  that  ought  to  have 
reached  a  woman's  heart;  then  flushing,  trembling,  and 
inspired  he  burst  out,  "And  I  wish  I  was  a  sculptor  and 
a  poet  too,  that  Christie  might  live  in  stone  and  verse,  as 
well  as  colors,  and  all  who  love  an  art  might  say,  'This 
woman  cannot  die  :  Charles  Gatty  loved  her.'  " 

He  looked  in  her  face  :  he  could  not  believe  any  creat- 
ure could  be  insensible  to  his  love,  and  persist  to  rob 
him  of  it. 

The  old  woman  paused  to  let  his  eloquence  evaporate. 

The  pause  chilled  him  ;  then  gently  and  slowly,  but 
emphatically,  she  spoke  to  him  thus  :  — 

"  Who  has  kept  you  on  her  small  means  ever  since  you 
were  ten  years  and  seven  months  old  ?  " 

"  You  should  know,  mother,  dear  mother." 

"  Answer  me,  Charles." 

"  My  mother." 

"Who  has  pinched  herself  in  every  earthly  thing,  to 
make  you  an  immortal  painter,  and,  above  all,  a  gentle- 
man ?  " 

"My  mother." 

"Who  forgave  you  the  little  faults  of  youth,  before 
you  could  ask  pardon  ?  " 

"  My  mother.      0  mother,  I  ask  pardon  now  for  all 


62  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

the  trouble  T  ever  gave  the  best,  the  dearest,  the  tender- 
est  of  mothers." 

"  Who  ^vill  go  home  to  Newcastle  a  broken-hearted 
woman,  with  the  one  hope  gone  that  has  kept  her  up  in 
poverty  and  sorrow  so  many  weary  years,  if  this  goes 
on  ?  " 

"  Nobody,  I  hope." 

"  Yes,  Charles  :  your  mother." 

"  0,  mother ;  you  have  been  always  my  best  friend." 

'•'And  am  this  day." 

"  Do  not  be  my  worst  enemy  now  :  it  is  for  me  to 
obey  you,  but  it  is  for  you  to  think  well  before  you  drive 
me  to  despair." 

And  the  poor  womanish  heart  leaned  his  head  on  the 
table,  and  began  to  sorrow  over  his  hard  fate. 

Mrs.  Gatty  soothed  him.  "  It  need  not  be  done  all  in 
a  moment.  It  must  be  done  kindly  but  firmly.  I  will 
give  you  as  much  time  as  you  like." 

This  bait  took  —  the  weak  love  to  temporize. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  he  honestly  intended  to  part 
with  Christie  Johnstone,  but  to  pacify  his  mother  he 
promised  to  begin  and  gradually  untie  the  knot. 

"  My  mother  will  go,"  whispered  his  deceitful  heart, 
"  and  when  she  is  away,  perhaps  I  shall  find  out  that  in 
spite  of  every  effort  I  cannot  resign  my  treasure." 

He  gave  a  sort  of  half-promise  for  the  sake  of  peace. 

His  mother  instantly  sent  to  the  inn  for  her  boxes. 

"  There  is  a  room  in  this  same  house,"  said  she  ;  "  I 
will  take  it :  I  will  not  hurry  you,  but  until  it  is  done,  I 
stay  here,  if  it  is  a  twelvemonth  about." 

He  turned  pale. 

"  And  now  hear  the  good  news  I  have  brought  you 
from  Newcastle." 

Oh,  these  little  iron  wills !  how  is  a  great  artist  to 
fight  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  against  such  an 
antagonist  ? 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  63 

Every  day  saw  a  repetition  of  these  dialogues  in  which 
genius  made  galLant  bursts  into  the  air,  and  strong,  hard 
sense  caught  him  on  his  descent,  and  dabbed  ghie  on  his 
gauzy  wings. 

Okl  age  and  youth  see  life  so  differently. 

To  youth  it  is  a  story-book,  in  which  we  are  to  com- 
mand the  incidents,  and  be  the  bright  exceptions  to  one 
rule  after  another. 

To  age  it  is  an  almanac,  in  which  everything  will 
happen  just  as  it  has  happened  so  many  times. 

To  youth,  it  is  a  path  through  a  sunny  meadow. 

To  age,  a  hard  turnpike  : 

Whose  travellers  must  be  all  sweat  and  dust,  when 
they  are  not  in  mud  and  drenched  : 

Which  wants  mending  in  many  places,  and  is  mended 
with  sharp  stones. 

Gatty  would  not  yield  to  go  down  to  Newhaven,  and 
take  a  step  against  his  love,  but  he  yielded  so  far  as  to 
remain  passive,  and  see  whether  this  creature  was  neces- 
sary to  his  existence  or  not. 

Mrs.  G.  scouted  the  idea. 

"  He  was  to  work,  and  he  would  soon  forget  her." 

Poor  boy  !  he  wanted  to  work ;  his  debt  weighed  on 
him :  a  week's  resolute  labor  might  finish  his  first 
picture  and  satisfy  his  creditor.  The  subject  was  an 
interior.  He  set  to  work,  he  stuck  to  work,  he  glued 
to  work,  his  body  —  but  his  heart  ? 

Ah,  my  poor  fellow,  a  much  slower  horse  than  Gatty 
will  go  by  you,  ridden  as  you  are  by  a  leaden  heart. 

Tu  nihil  invitd  fades  pingesve  Minervd. 

It  would  not  lower  a  mechanical  dog's  efforts,  but  it 
must  yours. 

He  was  unhappy.     He  heard  only  one  side  for  days ; 


64  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

that  side  was  recommended  by  his  duty,  filial  affection, 
and  diffidence  of  his  own  good  sense. 

He  was  brought  to  see  his  proceedings  were  eccentric, 
and  that  it  is  destruction  to  be  eccentric. 

He  was  made  a  little  ashamed  of  what  he  had  been 
proud  of. 

He  was  confused  and  perplexed ;  he  hardly  knew  what 
to  think  or  do ;  he  collapsed,  and  all  his  spirit  was  fast 
leaving  him,  and  then  he  felt  inclined  to  lean  on  the 
first  thing  he  could  find,  and  nothing  came  to  hand  but 
his  mother. 

Meantime,  Christie  Johnstone  was  also  thinking  of 
him,  but  her  single  anxiety  was  to  find  this  eighty 
pounds  for  him. 

It  is  a  ISTewhaven  idea  that  the  female  is  the  natural 
protector  of  the  male,  and  this  idea  was  strengthened  in 
her  case. 

She  did  not  fully  comprehend  his  character  and  tem- 
perament, but  she  saw,  by  instinct,  that  she  was  to  be 
the  protector. 

Besides,  as  she  was  twenty-one,  and  he  only  twenty- 
two,  she  felt  the  difference  between  herself  —  a  woman, 
and  him  —  a  boy,  and  to  leave  him  to  struggle  unaided 
out  of  his  difficulties,  seemed  to  her  heartless. 

Twice  she  opened  her  lips  to  engage  the  charitable 
"  Vile  Count "  in  his  cause,  but  shame  closed  them 
again ;  this  would  be  asking  a  personal  favor,  and  one 
on  so  large  a  scale. 

Several  days  passed  thus ;  she  had  determined  not  to 
visit  him  without  good  news. 

She  then  began  to  be  surprised,  she  heard  nothing 
from  him. 

And  now  she  felt  something  that  prevented  her  calling 
on  him. 

But  Jean  Carnie  was  to  be  married,  and  the  next  day 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  65 

the  wedding  party  were  to  spend  in  festivity  upon  the 
island  of  Inch  Coombe. 

She  bade  Jean  call  on  him,  and  without  mentioning 
her,  invite  him  to  this  party,  from  which,  he  must  know, 
she  would  not  be  absent. 

Jean  Carnie  entered  his  apartment,  and  at  her  en- 
trance, his  mother,  who  took  for  granted,  this  was  his 
sweetheart,  whispered  in  his  ear  that  he  should  now  take 
the  first  step,  and  left  him. 

What  passed  between  Jean  Carnie  and  Charles  Gatty 
is  for  another  chapter. 


66  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

A  YOUNG  viscount  with  income  and  person  cannot  lie 
perdu  three  miles  from  Edinburgh. 

First  one  discovers  him,  then  another,  then  twenty, 
then  all  the  world,  as  the  Avhole  clique  is  modestly  called. 

Before,  however,  Lord  Ipsden  was  caught,  he  had 
acquired  a  browner  tint,  a  more  elastic  step,  and  a 
stouter  heart. 

The  Aberford  prescription  had  done  wonders  for 
him. 

He  caught  himself  passing  one  whole  day  without 
thinking  of  Lady  Barbara  Sinclair. 

But  even  Aberford  had  misled  him  ;  there  were  no 
adventures  to  be  found  in  the  Firth  of  Forth ;  most  of 
the  days  there  was  no  wind  to  speak  of;  twice  it  blew 
great  guns,  and  the  men  were  surprised  at  his  lordship 
going  out.  but  nobody  was  in  any  danger  except  himself; 
the  fishermen  had  all  slipped  into  port  before  matters 
were  serious. 

He  found  the  merchantmen  that  could  sail  creeping 
on  with  three  reefs  in  their  mainsail ;  and  the  Dutchmen 
lying  to  and  breasting  it,  like  ducks  in  a  pond,  and  with 
no  more  chance  of  harm. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  he  did  observe  a  little 
steam-tug,  going  about  a  knot  an  hour,  and  rolling  like  a 
washing-tub.  He  ran  down  to  her,  and  asked  if  he  could 
assist  her;  she  answered  through  the  medium  of  a  sooty 
animal  at  her  helm,  that  she  was  (like  our  universities) 
"  satisfied  with  her  own  progress ;  "  she  added,  being 
under   intoxication,,   "  that   if   any  danger   existed,  her 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  67 

scheme  was  to  drown  it  in  the  bo-o-owl ;  "  and  two  days 
afterwards,  he  saw  her  puffing  and  panting,  and  fiercely 
dragging  a  gigantic  three-decker  out  into  deep  water, 
like  an  industrious  flea  pulling  his  phaeton. 

And  now  it  is  ray  office  to  relate  how  Mr.  Flucker 
Johnstone  comported  himself  on  one  occasion. 

As  the  yacht  worked  alongside  Granton  Pier,  before 
running  out,  the  said  Flucker,  calmly  and  scientifically, 
drew  his  lordship's  attention  to  three  points  : 

The  direction  of  the  wind  —  the  force  of  the  wind  — 
and  his  opinion,  as  a  person  experienced  in  the  Firth, 
that  it  was  going  to  be  worse  instead  of  better ;  in  reply, 
he  received  an  order  to  step  forward  to  his  place  in  the 
cutter  —  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  jib-boom.  On 
this  Mr.  Flucker  instantly  burst  into  tears. 

His  lordship,  or  as  Flucker  called  him,  ever  since 
the  yacht  came  down,  "  the  skipper,"  deeming  that  the 
higher  appellation,  inquired,  with  some  surprise,  what 
was  the  matter  with  the  boy  ? 

One  of  the  crew,  who,  by-the-by,  squinted,  suggested 
"  it  was  a  slight  illustration  of  the  passion  of  fear." 

Flucker  confirmed  the  theory  by  gulping  out,  "  We'll 
never  see  Newhaven  again." 

On  this  the  skipper  smiled,  and  ordered  him  ashore, 
somewhat  peremptorily. 

Straightway  he  began  to  howl,  and  saying  "  It  was 
better  to  be  drowned  than  be  the  laughing-stock  of 
the  place,"  went  forward  to  his  place ;  on  his  safe  return 
to  port,  this  young  gentleman  was  very  severe  on  open 
boats,  which  he  said  "bred  womanish  notions  in  hearts 
naturally  dauntless.  Give  me  a  lid  to  the  pot,"  added 
he,  "  and  I'll  sail  with  Old  Nick,  let  the  wind  blow  high 
or  low." 

The  Aberford  was  wrong  when  he  called  love  a  cutac 
neous  disorder. 


68  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

There  are  cutaneous  disorders  that  take  that  name, 
but  they  are  no  more  love  than  verse  is  poetry  ; 

Than  patriotism  is  love  of  country  ; 

Than  theology  is  religion  ; 

Than  science  is  philosophy  ; 

Than  paintings  are  pictures  ; 

Than  reciting  on  the  boards  is  acting ; 

Thau  physic  is  medicine  ; 

Than  bread  is  bread,  or  gold,  gold  —  in  shops. 

Love  is  a  state  of  being ;  the  beloved  object  is  our 
centre ;  and  our  thoughts,  affections,  schemes,  and  selves, 
move  but  round  it. 

We  may  diverge  hither  or  thither,  but  the  golden 
thread  still  holds  us. 

Is  fair  or  dark  beauty  the  fairest  ?  The  world  cannot 
decide ;  but  love  shall  deciae  in  a  moment. 

A  halo  surrounds  her  we  love,  and  makes  beautiful  to 
us  her  movements,  her  looks,  her  virtues,  her  faults,  her 
nonsense,  her  affectation,  and  herself,  and  that's  love, 
doctor ! 

Lord  Ipsden  was  capable  of  loving  like  this,  but  to  do 
Lady  Barbara  justice,  she  had  done  much  to  freeze  the 
germ  of  noble  passion ;  she  had  not  killed,  but  she  had 
benumbed  it. 

"  Saunders,"  said  Lord  Ipsden,  one  morning  after  break- 
fast, "  have  you  entered  everything  in  your  diary  ?  " 

"  Yes,  my  lord." 

"All  these  good  people's  misfortunes  ?  " 

"Yes,  my  lord." 

"  Do  you  think  you  have  spelt  their  names  right  ?  " 

"  Where  it  was  impossible,  my  lord,  I  substituted  an 
English  appellation  hidentical  in  meaning." 

"  Have  you  entered  and  described  my  first  interview 
with  Christie  Johnstone,  and  somebody  something  ?  " 

"  Most  minutely,  my  lord." 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  69 

"How  I  turned  Mr.  Burke  into  poetry — how  she  lis- 
tened with  her  eyes  all  glistening  —  how  they  made  me 
talk  —  how  she  dropped  a  tear,  he  !  he  !  he  !  at  the  death 
of  the  first  baron  —  how  shocked  she  was  at  the  king 
striking  him  when  he  was  dying,  to  make  a  knight- 
banneret  of  the  poor  old  fellow  ?  " 

"  Your  lordship  will  find  all  the  particulars  exactly 
related,"  said  Saunders,  with  dry  pomp. 

"  How  she  found  out  that  titles  are  but  breath  —  how 
I  answered —  some  nonsense  ?  " 

"  Your  lordship  will  find  all  the  topics  included." 

"How  she  took  me  for  a  madman?  And  you  for  a 
prig?" 

"The  latter  circumstance  eluded  my  memory,  my 
lord." 

"  But  when  I  told  her  I  must  relieve  only  one  poor 
person  by  day,  she  took  my  hand." 

"  Your  lordship  will  find  all  the  items  realized  in  this 
book,  my  lord." 

"  What  a  beautiful  book  ! " 

"  Alba  are  considerably  ameliorated,  my  lord." 

"  Alba  ?  " 

"Plural  of  album,  my  lord,"  explained  the  refined 
factotum,  "more  delicate,  I  conceive,  than  the  vulgar 
reading." 

Viscount  Ipsden  read  from  Mr.  Saunders's  Album  : 

"  To  illustrate  the  inelegance  of  the  inferior  classes, 
two  juvenile  venders  of  the  piscatory  tribe  were  this  day 
ushered  in,  and  instantaneously,  without  the  accustomed 
preliminaries,  plunged  into  a  familiar  conversation  with 
Lord  Viscount  Ipsden. 

"  Their  vulgarity,  shocking  and  repulsive  to  myself, 
appeared  to  afford  his  lordship  a  satisfaction  greater  than 
he  derives  from  the  graceful  amenities  of  fashionable 
association  "  — 


70  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  Saunders,  I  suspect  you  of  something." 

"  Me,  my  lord  !  " 

"Yes.     Writing  in  an  annual." 

"  I  do,  my  lord,"  said  he  with  benignant  hauteur.  "  It 
appears  every  month — 'The  Polytechnic.'" 

"  I  thought  so !  you  are  polysyllabic,  Saunders ;  en 
route  !  " 

"In  this  hallucination  I  find  it  difficult  to  participate; 
associated  from  infancy  with  the  aristocracy,  I  shrink, 
like  the  sensitive  plant,  from  contact  with  anything 
vulgar." 

"  I  see  !  I  begin  to  understand  you,  Saunders.  Order 
the  dog-cart,  and  Wordsworth's  mare  for  leader;  we'll 
give  her  a  trial.     You  are  an  ass,  Saunders." 

"  Yes,  my  lord ;  I  will  order  Robert  to  tell  James  to 
come  for  your  lordship's  commands  about  your  lordship's 
vehicles.  (What  could  he  intend  by  a  recent  observation 
of  a  discourteous  character  ?)" 

His  lordship  soliloquized. 

"  I  never  observed  it  before,  but  Saunders  is  an  ass ; 
La  Johnstone  is  one  of  nature's  duchesses,  and  she  has 
made  me  know  some  poor  people  that  will  be  richer  than 
the  rich  one  day ;  and  she  has  taught  me  that  honey  is 
to  be  got  from  bank-notes  —  by  merely  giving  them 
away." 

Amongst  the  objects  of  charity  Lord  Ipsden  dis- 
covered, was  one  Thomas  Harvey,  a  maker  and  player  of 
the  violin.  This  man  was  a  person  of  great  intellect ; 
he  mastered  every  subject  he  attacked.  By  a  careful 
examination  of  all  the  points  that  various  fine-toned 
Instruments  had  in  common,  he  had  arrived  at  a  theory 
of  sound;  he  made  violins  to  correspond,  and  was  re- 
markably successful  in  insuring  that  which  had  been  too 
hastily  ascribed  to  accident  — a  fine  tone. 

This  man,  who  was  in  needy  circumstances,  demon- 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  71 

strated  to  his  lordship  that  ten  pounds  would  make  his 
fortune;  because  with  ten  pounds  he  could  set  up  a  shop, 
instead  of  working  out  of  the  world's  sight  in  a  room. 

Lord  Ipsden  gave  him  ten  pounds  ! 

A  week  after  he  met  Harvey,  more  ragged  and  dirty 
than  before. 

Harvey  had  been  robbed  by  a  friend  whom  he  had 
assisted.  Poor  Harvey !  Lord  Ipsden  gave  him  ten 
pounds  more  ! 

Next  week,  Saunders,  entering  Harvey's  house,  found 
him  in  bed  at  noon,  because  he  had  no  clothes  to  wear. 

Saunders  suggested  that  it  would  be  better  to  give  his 
wife  the  next  money,  with  strict  orders  to  apply  it 
usefully. 

This  was  done ! 

The  next  day,  Harvey  finding  his  clothes  upon  a  chair, 
his  tools  redeemed  from  pawn,  and  a  beefsteak  ready  for 
his  dinner,  accused  his  wife  of  having  money,  and  meanly 
refusing  him  the  benefit  of  it.  She  acknowledged  she 
had  a  little,  and  appealed  to  the  improved  state  of  things 
as  a  proof  that  she  knew  better  than  he  the  use  of 
money.  He  demanded  the  said  money.  She  refused  — 
he  leathered  her  —  she  put  him  in  prison. 

This  was  the  best  place  for  him.  The  man  was  a 
drunkard,  and  all  the  riches  of  Egypt  would  never  have 
made  him  better  off. 

And  here,  gentlemen  of  the  lower  classes,  a  word  with 
you.  How  can  you,  with  your  small  incomes,  hope  to  be 
well  off,  if  you  are  more  extravagant  than  those  who 
have  large  ones  ? 

"  Us  extravagant  ?  "  you  reply. 

Yes  !  your  income  is  ten  shillings  a  week ;  out  of  that 
you  spend  three  shillings  in  drink ;  ay  !  you  the  sober 
ones.  You  can't  afford  it,  my  boys.  Find  me  a  man 
whose  income  is  a  thousand  a  year ;  well,  if  he  imitates 


72  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

you,  and  spends  three  hundred  upon  sensuality,  I  bet 
you  the  odd  seven  hundred,  he  does  not  make  both  ends 
meet ;  the  proportion  is  too  great.  And  two-thirds  of  the 
distress  of  the  lower  orders  is  oiving  to  this  —  that  they 
are  more  madly  prodigal  than  the  rich ;  in  the  worst, 
lowest,  and  most  dangerous  item  of  all  human  prodigality  ! 

Lord  Ipsden  went  to  see  Mrs.  Harvey ;  it  cost  him 
much  to  go ;  she  lived  in  the  old  town,  and  he  hated  dis- 
agreeable smells ;  he  also  knew  from  Saunders  that  she 
had  two  black  eyes,  and  he  hated  women  with  black 
eyes  of  that  sort.  But  this  good  creature  did  go ;  did 
relieve  Mrs.  Harvey ;  and,  bareheaded,  suffered  himself 
to  be  bedewed  ten  minutes  by  her  tearful  twaddle. 

For  once,  virtue  was  rewarded  :  returning  over  the 
North  Bridge,  he  met  somebody  whom,  but  for  his 
charity,  he  would  not  have  met. 

He  came  in  one  bright  moment  plump  upon  —  Lady 
Barbara  Sinclair.  She  flushed,  he  trembled,  and  in  two 
minutes  he  had  forgotten  every  human  event  that  had 
passed  since  last  he  was  by  her  side. 

She  seemed  pleased  to  see  him,  too ;  she  ignored  en- 
tirely his  obnoxious  proposal ;  he  wisely  took  her  cue, 
and  so,  on  this  secret  understanding,  they  were  friends. 
He  made  his  arrangements,  and  dined  with  her  family. 
It  was  a  family  party.  In  the  evening  Lady  Barbara 
allowed  it  to  transpire  that  she  had  made  inquiries  about 
him. 

(He  was  highly  flattered.)  And  she  had  discovered  he 
was  lying  hid  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood. 

"  Studying  the  guitar  ?  "  inquired  she. 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  studying  a  new  class  of  the  com- 
munity. Do  you  know  any  of  what  they  call  the  '  lower 
classes '  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Monstrous  agreeable  people,  are  they  not  ?  " 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  73 

"No,  very  stupid!  I  only  know  two  old  women  — 
except  the  servants,  who  have  no  characters.  They 
imitate  us,  I  suspect,  which  does  not  say  much  for  their 
taste." 

"  But  some  of  my  friends  are  young  women,  that 
makes  all  the  difference." 

"  It  does  !  and  you  ought  to  be  ashamed.  If  you  want 
a  low  order  of  mind,  why  desert  our  own  circle  ?  " 

"  My  friends  are  only  low  in  station ;  they  have  rather 
lofty  minds,  some  of  them." 

"  Well,  amuse  yourself  with  these  lofty  minds. 
Amusement  is  the  end  of  being,  3'ou  know,  and  the  aim 
of  all  the  men  of  this  day." 

"  We  imitate  the  ladies,"  said  he  slyly. 

"  You  do,"  answered  she,  very  dryl}^ ;  and  so  the 
dialogue  went  on,  and  Lord  Ipsden  found  the  pleasure 
of  being  with  his  cousin  compensate  him  fully  for  the 
difference  of  their  opinions ;  in  fact,  he  found  it  simply 
amusing  that  so  keen  a  wit  as  his  cousin's  could  be 
entrapped  into  the  humor  of  decrying  the  time  one 
happens  to  live  in,  and  admiring  any  epoch  one  knows 
next  to  nothing  about,  and  entrapped  by  the  notion  of 
its  originality,  above  all  things ;  the  idea  being  the  stale 
commonplace  of  asses  in  every  age,  and  the  manner 
of  conveying  the  idea  being  a  mere  imitation  of  the 
German  writers,  not  the  good  ones,  bie7i  entendu,  but  the 
quill-drivers,  the  snobs  of  the  Teutonic  pen. 

But  he  was  to  learn  that  follies  are  not  always  laugh- 
able, that  eadem  sentire  is  a  bond,  and  that  when  a  clever 
and  pretty  woman  chooses  to  be  a  fool,  her  lover,  if  he 
is  wise,  will  be  a  greater  —  if  he  can. 

The  next  time  they  met,  Lord  Ipsden  found  Lady 
Barbara  occupied  with  a  gentleman,  whose  first  sentence 
proclaimed  him  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Thomas  Carlyle,  and  he 
had  the  mortification  to  find  that  she  had  neither  an  ear 
nor  an  eye  for  him. 


74  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

Human  opinion  has  so  many  shades,  that  it  is  rare  to 
find  two  people  agree. 

But  two  people  may  agree  wonderfully,  if  they  will 
but  let  a  third  think  for  them  both. 

Thus  it  was  that  these  two  ran  so  smoothly  in  couples. 

Antiquity,  they  agreed,  was  the  time  when  the  world 
was  old,  its  hair  gray,  its  head  wise.  Every  oiie  that 
said  "  Lord,  Lord !  "  two  hundred  years  ago,  was  a  Chris- 
tian. There  were  no  earnest  men  now ;  Williams,  the 
missionary,  who  lived  and  died  for  the  gospel,  was  not 
earnest  in  religion;  but  Cromwell,  who  packed  a  jury, 
and  so  murdered  his  prisoner,  —  Cromwell,  in  whose 
mouth  was  heaven,  and  in  his  heart  temporal  sovereignty, 
was  the  pattern  of  earnest  religion,  or,  at  all  events, 
second  in  sincerity  to  Mahomet  alone,  in  the  absence  of 
details  respecting  Satan,  of  whom  we  know  only  that 
his  mouth  is  a  Scripture  concordance,  and  his  hands  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Carlyle's  saints. 

Then  they  went  back  a  century  or  two,  and  were  elo- 
quent about  the  great  antique  heart,  and  the  beauty  of 
an  age  whose  samples  were  Abbot  Sampson  and  Joan 
of  Arc. 

Lord  Ipsden  hated  argument ;  but  jealousy  is  a  brass 
spur :  it  made  even  this  man  fluent  for  once. 

He  suggested  "  That  five  hundred  years  added  to  a 
world's  life  made  it  just  five  hundred  years  older,  not 
younger ;  and  if  older,  grayer ;  and  if  grayer,  wiser. 

"  Of  Abbot  Sampson,"  said  he,  "  whom  I  confess  both 
a  great  and  a  good  man,  his  author,  who  with  all  his 
talent  belongs  to  the  class  muddle-head,  tells  us,  that 
when  he  had  been  two  years  in  authority  his  red  hair 
had  turned  gray,  fighting  against  the  spirit  of  his  age  ; 
how  the  deuce,  then,  could  he  be  a  sample  of  the  spirit 
of  his  age  ? 

"Joan  of  Arc  was  burnt  by  acclamation  of  her  age, 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  75 

and  is  admired  by  our  age.  Which  fact  identifies  an  age 
most  with  a  heroine,  to  give  her  your  heart,  or  to  give 
her  a  blazing  fagot  and  death  ? 

"  Abbot  Sampson  and  Joan  of  Arc,"  concluded  he, 
"  prove  no  more  in  favor  of  their  age,  and  no  less  against 
it,  than  Lot  does  for  or  against  Sodom.  Lot  was  in 
Sodom,  but  not  of  it ;  and  so  were  Sampson  and  Joan  in, 
but  not  of,  the  villanous  times  they  lived  in. 

"  The  very  best  text-book  of  true  religion  is  the  New 
Testament,  and  I  gather  from  it,  that  the  man  who  for- 
gives his  enemies  whilst  their  axe  descends  on  his  head, 
however  poor  a  creature  he  may  be  in  other  respects,  is 
a  better  Christian  than  the  man  who  has  the  God  of 
Mercy  forever  on  his  lijDS,  and  whose  hands  are  swift  to 
shed  blood. 

"  The  earnest  men  of  former  ages  are  not  extinct  in 
this,"  added  he.  "  Whenever  a  scaffold  is  erected  out- 
side a  prison-door,  if  you  are  earnest  in  pursuit  of  truth, 
and  can  put  up  with  disgusting  objects,  you  shall  see  a 
relic  of  ancient  manners  hung. 

"There  still  exist,  in  parts  of  America,  rivers  on  whose 
banks  are  earnest  men,  who  shall  take  your  scalp,  the  wife's 
of  your  bosom,  and  the  innocent  child's  of  her  bosom. 

"  In  England  we  are  as  earnest  as  ever  in  pursuit  of 
heaven,  and  of  innocent  worldly  advantages.  If,  when 
the  consideration  of  life  and  death  interposes,  Ave  appear 
less  earnest  in  pursuit  of  comparative  trifles,  such  as 
kingdoms  or  dogmas,  it  is  because,  cooler  in  action  Ave 
are  more  earnest  in  thought  —  because  reason,  experi- 
ence, and  conscience  are  things  that  check  the  unscrupu- 
lousness  or  beastly  earnestness  of  man. 

'•  Moreover,  he  who  has  the  sense  to  see  that  questions 
have  three  sides,  is  no  longer  so  intellectually  as  Avell  as 
morally  degraded  as  to  be  able  to  cut  every  throat  that 
utters  an  opinion  contrary  to  his  own. 


76  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"If  the  phrase  'earnest  man'  means  man  imitating 
the  beasts  that  are  deaf  to  reason,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
civilization  and  Christianity  will  really  extinguish  the 
whole  race  for  the  benefit  of  the  earth." 

Lord  Ipsden  succeeded  in  annoying  the  fair  theorist, 
but  not  in  convincing  her. 

The  mediaeval  enthusiasts  looked  on  him  as  some 
rough  animal  that  had  burst  into  sacred  grounds  uncon- 
sciously, and  gradually  edged  away  from  him. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  77 


CHAPTER  X. 

Lord  Ipsden  had  soon  the  mortification  of  discovering 

that  this  Mr. was  a  constant  visitor  at  the  house  ;  and 

although  his  cousin  gave  him  her  ear  in  this  man's 
absence,  on  the  arrival  of  her  fellow-enthusiast  he  had 
ever  the  mortification  of  finding  himself  de  trop. 

Once  or  twice  he  demolished  this  personage  in  argu- 
ment, and  was  rewarded  by  finding  himself  more  de 
trop. 

But  one  day,  Lady  Barbara,  being  in  a  cousinly  humor, 
expressed  a  wish  to  sail  in  his  lordship's  yacht ;  and  this 
hint  soon  led  to  a  party  being  organized,  and  a  sort  of 
picnic  on  the  island  of  Inch  Coombe,  his  lordship's  cutter 
being  the  mode  of  conveyance  to  and  from  that  spot. 

Now  it  happened  that  on  that  very  day  Jean  Carnie's 
marriage  was  celebrated  on  that  very  island  by  her  rela- 
tions and  friends. 

So  that  we  shall  introduce  our  readers  to  The  Rival 
Picnics. 

We  begin  with  Les  gens  comme  il  faut. 

Picnic  No.  1. 

The  servants  were  employed  in  putting  away  dishes 
into  hampers. 

There  was  a  calm  silence. 

"  Hem,"  observed  Sir  Henry  Talbot. 

"  Eh  ?  "  replied  the  Honorable  Tom  Hitherington. 

*' Mamma,"  said  Miss  Vere,  "have  you  brought  any 
work  ?  " 


78  CHEISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

"No,  my  dear." 

"At  a  picnic,"  said  Mr.  Hitherington,  "isn't  it  the 
thing  for  somebody  —  aw  —  to  do  something  ?  " 

"  Ipsden,"  said  Lady  Barbara,  "  there  is  an  understand- 
ing between  you  and  Mr.  Hitherington.  I  condemn  you 
to  turn  him  into  English." 

"Yes,  Lady  Barbara;  I'll  tell  you,  he  means  —  do  you 
mean  anything,  Tom  ?  " 

Hitherington.     Can't  anybody  guess  what  I  mean  ? 

Lady  Barbara.  Guess  first,  yourself;  you  can't  be 
suspected  of  being  in  the  secret. 

Hitherington.  What  I  mean  is,  that  people  sing  a 
song,  or  run  races,  or  preach  a  sermon,  or  do  something 
funny  at  a  picnic,  —  aw  —  somebody  gets  up  and  does 
something. 

Lady  Barbara.  Then  perhaps  Miss  Vere,  whose  sing- 
ing is  famous,  will  have  the  complaisance  to  sing  to 
us. 

Miss  Vere.  I  should  be  happy.  Lady  Barbara,  but  I 
have  not  brought  my  music. 

Lady  Barbara.  Oh,  we  are  not  critical ;  the  simplest 
air,  or  even  a  fragment  of  melody  ;  the  sea  and  the  sky 
will  be  a  better  accompaniment  than  Broadwood  ever 
made. 

Miss  Vere.     I  can't  sing  a  note  without  book. 

Sir  H  Talbot.  Your  music  is  in  your  soul^  not  at 
your  fingers'  ends. 

Jjord  Ipsden  (to  Lady  Barbara).  It  is  in  her  book,  and 
not  in  her  souL 

Lady  Barbara  (to  Lord  Ipsden).  Then  it  has  chosen 
the  better  situation  of  the  two. 

Ipsden.  Miss  Vere  is  to  the  fine  art  of  music,  what  the 
engrossers  are  to  the  black  art  of  law ;  it  all  filters 
through  them  without  leaving  any  sediment ;  and  so  the 
music  of  the  day  passes  through  Miss  Vere's  mind,  but 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


79 


none  remains  to  stain  its  virgin  snow.  (He  bows,  slie 
smiles.) 

Lady  Barbara  (to  herself).  Insolent ;  and  the  little 
dunce  thinks  he  is  complimenting  her. 

Ipsden.  Perhaps  Talbot  will  come  to  our  rescue ;  he 
is  a  fiddler. 

Talbot.     An  amateur  of  the  violin. 

Ipsden.     It  is  all  the  same  thing. 

Lady  Barbara.     I  wish  it  may  prove  so. 


Tal.     " 

(Grave)  ^^=g: 


Bis. 


Bis. 


fff  Prestissimo. 


11 


-^-^- 


— ■  -9- 


*■•-- 


*=f=t=*=i: 


>:? 


80 


fl^Mk 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


fi    t:^^ 


:*=1=q=1: 


#— ^ 


0—^ 


-#— H 


l|=f. 


_*_^ — I — 1 — -l — -[- — I — I — I — I — 


^=^•=?=^=^=t>i=^=ji=^ii=|i=^li=Si=N=I 


8rrt. 


^     ^    H   f:t:Et:^     #•    3?:    f:  t^  t: 


t^S=t^^^===^^=t- 


-y. 


Zo^^o  harmonic, 
quick  and  short. 


-s-^- 


-< 


3Iiss  Vere.     Beautiful. 

Mi's.  Vere.     Charming. 

Hitherington.     Superb. 

Ipsden.  You  are  aware  that  good  music  is  a  thing  to 
be  wedded  to  immortal  verse;  shall  I  recite  a  bit  of  poetry 
to  match  Talbot's  strain  ? 

Miss  Vere.     Oh,  yes,  how  nice  ! 


CHEISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  81 

Ipsden  (rhetorically).  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  H,  I,  J,  K, 
L,  M,  N,  0,  P,  Q,  K,  S,  T,  U,  V,  W,  X,  Y,  Z,  Y,  X,  W, 
V,  U,  T,  S,  0,  N,  M,  L,  K,  J,  I,  H,  G,  F,  A,  M,  little  p, 
little  t. 

Lady  Barhara.  Beautiful !  Superb !  Ipsden  has 
been  taking  lessons  on  the  thinking  instrument. 

Hitherington.  He  has  been  perdu  amongst  vulgar 
people. 

Talbot.  And  expects  a  pupil  of  Herz  to  play  him 
tunes ! 

Lady  Barhara.     What  are  tunes,  Sir  Henry  ? 

Talbot.     Something  I  don't  play,  Lady  Barbara. 

Lady  Barhara.  I  understand  you ;  something  we 
ought  to  like. 

Ipsden.  I  have  a  Stradivarius  violin  at  home ;  it  is 
yours,  Talbot,  if  you  can  define  a  tune. 

Talbot.     A  tune  is  —  everybody  knows  what. 

Lady  Barhara.  A  tune  is  a  tune,  that  is  what  you 
meant  to  say. 

Talbot.     Of  course  it  is. 

Lady  Barbara.  Be  reasonable,  Ipsden.  No  man  can 
do  two  things  at  once.  How  can  the  pupil  of  Herz 
condemn  a  thing  and  know  what  it  means  contempo- 
raneously ? 

Ipsden.  Is  the  drinking-song  in  "  Der  Freischutz,"  a 
tune? 

Lady  Barhara.     It  is. 

Ipsden.     And  the  melodies  of  Handel,  are  they  tunes  ? 

Lady  Barbara  (pathetically).  They  are !  They 
are  ! 

Ipsden.  And  the  "  ilussian  Anthem,"  and  the  "  Mar- 
seillaise," and  "  Ah,  Perdona  "  ? 

Talbot.     And  "  Yankee  Doodle  "  ? 

Lady  Barhara.     So  that  Sir  Henry,  who  prided  himself 
on  his  ignorance,  has  a  wide  field  for  its  dominion. 
6 


82  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

Talbot.  All  good  violin  players  do  like  me ;  they 
prelude,  not  play  tunes. 

Ipsden.  Then  Heaven  be  thanked  for  our  blind 
fiddlers.  You  like  syllables  of  sound  in  unmeaning 
rotation,  and  you  despise  its  words,  its  purposes,  its 
narrative  feats  ;  carry  out  your  principle,  it  will  show 
you  where  you  are.  Buy  a  dirty  palette  for  a  picture, 
and  dream  the  alphabet  is  a  poem. 

Lady  Barbara  (to  herself).    Is  this  my  cousin  Richard  ? 

Hltherington.  Mind,  Ipsden,  you  are  a  man  of  prop- 
erty, and  there  are  such  things  as  commissions  de  lunatlco. 

Lady  Barbara.  His  defence  will  be  that  his  friends 
pronounce  him  insane. 

Ijysden.  No ;  I  shall  subpoena  Talbot's  fiddle  ;  cross- 
examination  will  get  nothing  out  of  that  but  do,  re, 
mi,  fa. 

Lady  Barbara.     Yes,  it  will ;  fa,  mi,  re,  do. 

Talbot.     Violin,  if  you  please. 

Lady  Barbara.     Ask  Fiddle's  pardon  directly. 
(Sound  of  fiddles  is  heard  in  the  distance.) 

Talbot.  How  lucky  for  yow,  there  are  fiddles  and  tunes, 
and  the  natives  you  are  said  to  favor ;  why  not  join  them  ? 

fysden  (shaking  his  head  solemnly).  I  dread  to  en- 
counter another  prelude. 

Hltherington.  Come,  I  know  you  would  like  ;  it  is  a 
wedding-party  —  two  sea  monsters  have  been  united. 
The  sailors  and  fishermen  are  all  blue  cloth  and  wash- 
leather  gloves. 

Miss  Vere.     He  !  he  ! 

Talbot.  The  fishwives  unite  the  colors  of  the  rain- 
bow— 

Lady  Barbara.  (And  we  all  know  how  hideous  they 
are)  —  to  vulgar  blooming  cheeks,  staring  white  teeth, 
and  sky-blue  eyes. 

3Irs.  Vere.  How  satirical  you  are,  especially  you,  Lady 
Barbara. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  83 

Here  Lord  Ipsden,  after  a  word  to  Lady  Barbara,  the 
answer  to  which  did  not  appear  to  be  favorable,  rose, 
gave  a  little  yawn,  looked  steadily  at  his  companions 
without  seeing  them,  and  departed  Avithout  seeming 
aware  that  he  was  leaving  anybody  behind  him. 

Hitlwrincjton.  Let  us  go  somewhere  where  we  can 
quiz  the  natives  without  being  too  near  them. 

Lady  Barbara.  I  am  tired  of  this  unbroken  solitude. 
"  I  must  go  and  think  to  the  sea,"  added  she,  in  a  mock 
soliloquy  ;  and  out  she  glided  with  the  same  unconscious 
air  as  his  lordship  had  worn. 

The  others  moved  off  slowly,  together. 

"  Mamma,"  said  Miss  Vere,  ''  I  can't  understand  half 
Barbara  Sinclair  says." 

"It  is  not  necessary,  my  love,"  replied  mamma  ;  "she 
is  rather  eccentric,  and  I  fear  she  is  spoiling  Lord 
Ipsden." 

"  Poor  Lord  Ipsden,"  murmured  the  lovely  Vere,  "  he 
used  to  be  so  nice,  and  do  like  everybody  else.  Mamma, 
I  shall  bring  some  work  the  next  time." 

"  Do,  my  love." 

Picnic  No.  2. 

In  a  house  two  hundred  yards  from  this  scene,  a  merry 
dance,  succeeding  a  merry  song,  had  ended,  and  they 
were  in  the  midst  of  an  interesting  story ;  Christie 
Johnstone  was  the  narrator.  She  had  found  the  tale 
in  one  of  the  viscount's  books,  —  it  had  made  a  great 
impression  on  her. 

The  rest  were  listening  intently  :  in  a  room  which  had 
lately  been  all  noise,  not  a  sound  was  now  to  be  heard 
but  the  narrator's  voice. 

"  Aweel,  lasses,  here  are  the  three  wee  kists  set,  the 
lads  are  to  chuse,  —  the  ane  that  chuses  reicht  is  to  get 
Porsha,  an'  the  lave  to  get  the  bag,  and  dee  baitchelars. 


84  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

Flucker  Johnstone,  you  that's  sae  clever,  —  are  ye  for 
gowd  or  siller  or  leed  ?  " 

First  FisJncife.     Gowd  for  me  ! 

Second  ditto.     The  white  siller's  my  taste. 

Flucker.  Na  !  there's  aye  some  deevelish  trick  in  thit 
lassie's  stories.  I  shall  lie-to  till  tlie  ither  lads  hae 
chused  ;  the  mair  part  will  put  themsels  oot,  ane  will 
hit  it  off  reicht  maybe,  then  I  shall  gie  him  a  hidin'  an' 
carry  off  the  lass.     You-hoo  ! 

Jean  Carnie.     That's  you,  Flucker. 

Christie  Johnstone.  And  div  ye  really  think  we  are 
gawn  to  let  you  see  a'  the  world  chuse  ?  Na,  lad,  ye 
are  putten  oot  o'  the  room,  like  witnesses. 

Flucker.  Then  I'd  toss  a  penny  ;  for  gien  ye  trust  to 
luck,  she  whiles  favors  ye,  but  gien  ye  commence  to  rea- 
son and  argefy  —  ye're  done  ! 

Christie.  The  suitors  had  na  your  wit,  my  manny,  or 
maybe  they  had  na  a  penny  to  toss,  sae  ane  chused  the 
gowd  and  ane  the  siller ;  but  they  got  an  awfu'  affront. 
The  gowd  kist  had  just  a  skull  intill't,  and  the  siller  a 
deed  cuddy's  head  ! 

Chorus  of  Females.     He  !  he  !  he  ! 

Ditto  of  Males.     Haw  !  haw  !  haw  !  haw  !     Ho  ! 

Christie.  An'  Porsha  puttit  the  pair  of  gowks  to  the 
door.  Then  came  Bassanio,  the  lad  fra  Veeneece,  that 
Porsha  loed  in  secret.  Veeneece,  lasses,  is  a  wonderful 
city;  the  streets  o't  are  water  and  the  carriages  are  boats 
—  that's  in  Chambers's. 

Flucker.     Wha  are  ye  making  a  fool  o'  ? 

Christie.     What's  wrang  ? 

Flucker.     Yon's  just  as  big  a  lee  as  ever  I  heerd. 

The  words  were  scarcely  out  of  his  mouth  ere  he  had 
reason  to  regret  them ;  a  severe  box  on  the  ear  was 
administered  by  his  indignant  sister.  Nobody  pitied 
him. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  85 

Christie.  I'll  laeru  ye  t'  affront  me  before  a'  the 
company. 

Jemi  Carnie.  Suppose  it's  a  lee,  there's  nae  silver  to 
pay  for  it,  Flucker. 

Christie.     Jean,  I  never  telt  a  lee  in  a'  my  days. 

Jean.  There's  ane  to  begin  wi',  then.  Go  ahead, 
Custy. 

Christie.  She  bade  the  music  play  for  him,  for  music 
brightens  thoueht ;  ony  way,  he  chose  the  leed  kist. 
Opens't  and  wasn't  there  Forsha's  pictur,  and  a  posy 
that  said, 

"  '  If  you  be  well  pleased  with  this, 
And  hold  your  fortune  for  your  bliss ; 
Turn  you  where  your  leddy  iss, 
And  greet  her  wi'  a  loving ' "  —     (Pause.) 

"Kess,"  roared  the  company. 

Chorus  (led  by  Flucker).     Hurraih  ; 

Christie  (pathetically).     Flucker,  behave  ! 

Sandy  Liston  (drunk).  Hur-raih  !  He  then  solemnly 
reflected:  "]^fa!  but  its  na hurraih;  decency  requires  amen 
first  an'  hurraih  afterwards  ;  here's  kissin  plenty,  but  I 
hear  nae  word  o'  the  minister.  Ye'll  obsairve,  young 
woman,  that  kissin's  the  prologue  to  sin,  and  I'm  a  decent 
mon,  an'  a  gray-headed  raon,  an'  your  licht  stories  are  no 
for  me  ;  sae,  if  the  minister's  no  expeckit,  I  shall  retire 
—  an'  tak  my  quiet  jill  my  lane." 

Jean  Carnie.  And  div  ye  really  think  a  decent  cum- 
mer like  Custy  wad  let  the  lad  and  lass  misbehave  thir- 
sels !  Na,  lad ;  the  minister's  at  the  door,  but  (sinking 
her  voice  to  a  confidential  whisper)  I  daurna  let  him  in, 
for  fear  he'd  see  ye  hae  putten  the  enemy  in  your  mooth 
sae  aerly.     (That's  Custy's  word.) 

"  Jemmy  Drysel,"  replied  Sandy,  addressing  vacancy, 
for  Jemmy  was  mysteriously  at  work  in  the  kitchen, 


86  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTOKE. 

"ye  hae  gotten  a  thoughtfu'  wife."  Then,  with  a  strong 
revulsion  of  feeling:  "Dinna  let  the  blakguurd ^  in  here," 
cried  he,  "to  spoil  the  young  folks'  sporrt." 

Christie.  Aweel,  lassies,  comes  a  letter  to  Bassanio; 
he  reads  it,  and  turns  as  pale  as  deeth. 

A  Fishwife.     Gude  help  us. 

Christie.  Poorsha  behoved  to  ken  his  grief,  wha  had 
a  better  reicht  ?  "  Here's  a  letter,  leddy,"  says  he,  "  the 
paper's  the  boedy  of  my  freeud,  like,  and  every  word  in 
it  a  gaping  wound." 

A  Fisherman.     Maircy  on  us. 

Christie.  Lad  it  was  fra  puir  Antonio,  ye  mind  o' 
him,  lasses.  Hech !  the  ill  luck  o'  yon  man,  no  a  ship 
come  hame  ;  ane  foundered  at  sea,  coming  fra  Tri-po-lis ; 
the  pirates  scuttled  another,  an'  ane  ran  ashore  on  the 
Goodwyns,  near  Bright-helm-stane,  that's  in  England 
itsel',  I  daur  say :  sae  he  could  na  pay  the  three  thoo- 
sand  ducats,  an'  Shylock  had  grippit  him,  an'  sought  the 
pund  o'  flesh  aff  the  breest  o'  him,  puir  body. 

Sandi/  Liston.  He  would  na  be  the  waur  o'  a  wee  bit 
hiding,  yon  thundering  urang  utang ;  let  the  man  alane, 
ye  cursed  old  cannibal. 

Christie.  Poorsha  keepit  her  man  but  ae  hoor  till 
they  were  united,  an'  then  sent  him  wi'  a  puckle  o'  her 
aiu  siller  to  Veeneece,  and  Antonio,  —  think  o'  that, 
lassies,  —  pairted  on  their  wedding  day. 

Lizzy  Johnstone  (a  fishwife,  aged  twelve).  Hech, 
hech  !   it's  lamentable. 

Jean  Carnie.  I'm  saying,  mairriage  is  (j^uick  wark,  in 
some  pairts,  —  here  there's  an  awfu'  trouble  to  get  a 
man. 

A  You7ig  Fishnnfe.     Ay,  is  there. 

Omnes.     Haw  !  haw  !  haw  !     (The  lishAvife  hides.) 

1  At  present  this  is  a  spondfc  in  England  —  a  trocliee  in  Scotland.  The 
pronunciation  of  this  important  word  ouf;ht  to  be  lixed,  representing,  as  it 
does,  so  large  a  portion  of  the  community  in  both  countries. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  87 

Christie.  Fill  your  taupsels,  lads  and  lasses,  and  awa 
to  Veeneece. 

Sandy  Liston  (sturdily).     I'll  no  gang  to  sea  this  day. 

Christie.  Noo,  we  are  in  the  hall  o'  judgment.  Here 
are  set  the  judges,  awfu'  to  behold ;  there,  on  his  throne, 
presides  the  Juke. 

Flucker.     She's  awa  to  her  Ennglish. 

Lizzy  Johnstone.  Did  we  come  to  Veeneece  to  speak 
Scoetch,  ye  useless  fule  ? 

Christie.  Here,  pale  and  hopeless,  but  resigned,  stands 
the  broken  mairchant,  Antonio ;  there,  wi'  scales  and 
knives,  and  revenge  in  his  murderin'  eye,  stands  the 
crewel  Jew  Shy  lock. 

"  Aweel,"  muttered  Sandy  considerately,  "  I'll  no  mak 
a  disturbance  on  a  wedding  day." 

Christie.  They  wait  for  Bell  —  I  dinna  mind  his  mind 
—  a  laerned  lawyer,  ony  way ;  he's  sick,  but  sends  ane 
mair  laerned  still,  and  when  this  ane  comes,  he  looks  not 
older  nor  wiser  than  mysel'. 

Flucker.     No  possible ! 

Christie.  Ye  need  na  be  sae  sarcy,  Flucker,  for  when 
he  comes  to  his  wark  he  soon  lets  'em  ken  —  runs  his 
een  like  lightening  ower  the  boend.  "  This  bond's  for- 
feit. Is  Antonio  not  able  to  dischairge  the  money  ?  "  — 
''Ay!"  cries  Bassanio,  "here's  the  sum  thrice  told." 
Says  the  young  judge,  in  a  bit  whisper  to  Shylock, 
"Shy lock,  there's  thrice  thy  money  offered  thee.  Be 
mairciful,"  says  he,  out  loud.  "  Wha'll  mak  me  ?  "  says 
the  Jew  body.  "  Mak  ye  ! "  says  he  ;  "  maircy  is  no  a 
thing  ye  strain  through  a  sieve,  mon ;  it  droppeth  like 
the  gentle  dew  fra  heaven  upon  the  place  beneath ;  it 
blesses  him  that  gives  and  him  that  taks ;  it  becomes 
the  king  better  than  his  throne,  and  airthly  power  is 
maist  like  God's  power  when  maircy  seasons  justice." 

Robert  Haw  (fisherman).      Dinna  speak  like  that  to 


88  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

me  onybody,  or  I  shall  gie  ye  my  boat,  and  fling  my  neta 
intil  it,  as  ye  sail  awa  wi'  her. 

Jean  Caniie.  Sae  he  let  the  puir  deevil  go.  Oh !  ye 
ken  wha  could  stand  up  against  sicean  a  shower  o' 
Ennglish  as  thaat. 

Christie.  He  just  said,  "My  deeds  upon  my  heed. 
I  claim  the  law,"  says  he ;  "  there  is  no  power  in  the 
tongue  o'  man  to  alter  me.     I  stay  here  on  my  boend." 

Sandi/  Liston.  I  hae  sat  quiet  !  —  quiet  I  hae  sat 
against  my  will,  no  to  disturb  Jamie  Drysel's  weddin' ; 
but  ye  carry  the  game  ower  far,  Shylock,  my  lad.  I'll 
just  give  yon  bluidy  minded  urang  utang  a  hidin',  and 
bring  Tony  off,  the  gude,  puir-spirited  creature ;  and  him 
an'  me,  an'  Bassanee,  an'  Porshee,  we'll  all  hae  a  jill 
thegither. 

He  rose,  and  was  instantly  seized  by  two  of  the  com- 
pany, from  whom  he  burst  furiously,  after  a  struggle, 
and  the  next  moment  was  heard  to  fall  clean  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom  of  the  stairs.  Flucker  and  Jean  ran 
out;  the  rest  appealed  against  the  interruption. 

Christie.  Hech  !  he's  killed ;  Sandy  Liston's  brake  his 
neck. 

"  What  aboot  it,  lassy  ?  "  said  a  young  fisherman,  ''  'tis 
Antonio  I'm  feared  for ;  save  him,  lassy,  if  poessible  ;  but 
I  doot  ye'll  no  get  him  clear  o'  yon  deevelich  heathen." 

"  Auld  Sandy's  cheap  sairved,"  added  he,  with  all  the 
indifference  a  human  tone  could  convey. 

"0  Cursty,"  said  Lizzy  Johnstone,  with  a  peevish 
accent,  "dinna  break  the  bonny  yarn  for  naething." 

Flucker  (returning).     He's  a'  reicht. 

Christie.     Is  he  no  dead  ? 

Flucker.  Him  deed  ?  he's  sober  —  that's  a'  the  change 
I  see. 

Christie.     Can  he  speak  ?     I'm  asking  ye. 
.  Flucker.     Yes,  he  can  speak. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  89 

Christie.     What  does  he  say,  puir  body  ? 

Flucker.  He  sat  up,  an'  sought  a  jill  fra'  the  wife  — 
puir  body  ! 

Christie.  Hech,  hech  !  he  was  my  pupil  in  the  airt  o' 
sobriety  !  —  Aweel,  the  young  judge  rises  to  deliver  the 
sentence  of  the  coort.  —  Silence  !  (thundered  Christie. 
A  lad  and  a  lass  that  were  slightly  flirting  were  dis- 
countenanced.) 

Christie.  A  pund  o'  that  same  mairchant's  flesh  is 
thine !  the  coort  awards  it,  and  the  law  does  give  it. 

A  Young  Fishwife.  There,  I  thoucht  sae ;  he's  gaun 
to  cut  him,  he's  gaun  to  cut  him ;  I'll  no  can  bide. 
(^Exibat.) 

Christie.  There's  a  fulish  goloshen.  —  "  Have  by  a 
doctor  to  stop  the  blood."  —  ''I  see  nae  doctor  in  the 
boend,"  says  the  Jew  bod3\ 

Flucker.  Bait  your  hook  wi'  a  boend,  and  ye  shall 
catch  yon  carle's  saul,  Satin,  my  lad. 

Christie  (with  dismal  pathos).  0  Flucker,  dinna  speak 
evil  o'  deegneties,  —  that's  maybe  fishing  for  yoursel'  the 
noo !  —  "  An'  ye  shall  cut  the  flesh  frae  off  his  breest." 
—  "A  sentence,"  says  Shylock,  "come,  prepare." 

Christie  made  a  dash  en  Shylock,  and  the  company 
trembled. 

Christie.  "Bide  a  wee,"  says  the  judge.  "This  boend 
gies  ye  na  a  drap  o'  bluid;  the  words  expressly  are,  a 
pund  o'  flesh  ! " 

(^A  Dramatic  Pause.) 

Jean  Carnie  (drawing  her  breath).  That's  into  your 
mutton,  Shylock. 

Christie  (with  dismal  pathos).  0  Jean  !  yon's  an  awfu' 
voolgar  exprassion  to  come  fra'  a  woman's  mooth. 

"  Could  ye  no  hae  said,  '■  intil  his  bacon '  ?  "  said  Lizzy 
Johnstone,  confirming  the  remonstrance. 


90  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

Christie.  "  Then  tak  your  boend,  an'  your  pund  o'  flesh  j 
but  in  cutting  o't,  if  thou  dost  shed  one  drop  of  Christian 
bluid  —  thou  diest !" 

Jea7i  Carnie.     Hech ! 

Christie.  "  Thy  goods  are  by  the  laws  of  Veeneece 
con-fis-cate,  confiscate  ! " 

Then  like  an  artful  narrator,  she  began  to  wind  up  the 
story  more  rapidly. 

"  Sae  Shy  lock  got  to  be  no  sae  saucy.  '  Pay  the  boend 
thrice,'  says  he,  '  and  let  the  puir  deevil  go.'  — '  Here 
it's,'  says  Bassanio.  Na !  the  young  judge  wad  na  let 
him.  'He  has  refused  it  in  open  coort;  no  a  bawbee 
for  Shylock  but  just  the  forfeiture ;  an'  he  daur  na  tak 
it.'  — '  I'm  awa','  says  he.  '  The  deivil  tak  ye  a'.' 
Na !  he  was  na  to  win  clear  sae ;  ance  they'd  gotten  the 
Jew  on  the  hep,  they  worried  him,  like  good  Christians, 
that's  a  fact.  The  judge  fand  a  law  that  fitted  him,  for 
conspiring  against  the  life  of  a  citizen ;  an'  he  behooved 
to  give  up  hoose  an'  lands,  an'  be  a  Christian ;  yon  was 
a  soor  drap  —  he  tarned  no  weel,  puir  auld  villain,  an' 
scairtit ;  an'  the  lawyers  sent  ane  o'  their  weary  parch- 
ments till  his  hoose,  and  the  puir  auld  heathen  signed 
awa  his  siller,  an'  Abraham,  an'  Isaac,  an'  Jacob,  on  the 
heed  o't.  I  pity  him,  an  auld,  auld  man  ;  and  his  doch- 
ter  had  rin  off  wi'  a  Christian  lad  —  they  ca'  her  Jessica, 
and  didn't  she  steal  his  very  diamond  ring  that  his  ain 
lass  gied  him  when  he  was  young,  an'  maybe  no  sae 
hard-hairted." 

Jean  Carnie.  Oh,  the  jaud !  Suppose  he  was  a  Jew, 
it  was  na  her  business  to  clean  him  oot. 

A  Yoking  Fishwife.  Aweel,  it  was  only  a  Jew  body, 
that's  my  comfort. 

Christie.  Ye  speak  as  a  Jew  was  na  a  man ;  has  not 
a  Jew  eyes,  if  ye  please  ? 

Lizzy  Johnstone.  Ay,  has  he !  and  the  awfuest  lang 
neb  atween  'em. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  91 

Christie.     Has  not  a  Jew  affections,  paassions,  organs  ? 

Jean.     Na,  Christie  !  thir  lads  comes  fr'  Italy  ! 

Christie.  If  you  prick  him,  does  he  not  bleed  ?  if  you 
tickle  him,  does  na  he  lauch  ? 

A  Yoting  Fishwife  (pertly).  I  never  kittlet  a  Jew,  for 
my  pairt,  sae  I'll  no  can  tell  ye. 

Christie.  If  you  poison  him,  does  he  not  die  ?  and  if 
you  wrang  him  (with  fury),  shall  he  not  revenge  ? 

Lizzy  Johnstone.     Oh,  but  ye're  a  fearsome  lass. 

Christie.  Wha'll  give  me  a  sang  for  my  bonny 
yarn  ? 

Lord  Ipsden,  who  had  been  an  unobserved  auditor  of 
the  latter  part  of  the  tale,  here  inquired  whether  she 
had  brought  her  book. 

"  What'n  bulk  ? 

"  Your  music-book." 

"  Here's  my  music-book,"  said  Jean,  roughly  tapping 
her  head. 

"And  here's  mines,"  said  Christie,  bird-ly,  touching 
her  bosom. 

"  Richard,"  said  she,  thoughtfully,  "  I  wish  ye  may  no 
hae  been  getting  in  voolgar  company ;  div  ye  think  we 
hae  minds  like  rinning  water  ?  " 

Fliicker  (avec  malice).  And  tongues  like  the  mill- 
clack  abune  it  ?  Because  if  ye  think  sae,  captain,  ye're 
no  far  wrang. 

Christie.  Na !  we  hae  na  muckle  gowd,  maybe,  but 
our  minds  are  gowden  vessels. 

Jean.     Aha,  lad. 

Christie.  They  are  not  saxpenny  sieves,  to  let  music 
an'  metre  through,  and  leave  us  none  the  wiser  or  better. 
Dinna  gang  in  low  voolgar  company,  or  you  a  lost  laddy. 

fysden.  Vulgar,  again !  everybody  has  a  different 
sense  for  that  word,  I  think.     What  is  vulgar  ? 

Christie.      Voolgar   folk   sit   on   an   chair,   ane,   twa, 


92  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

whiles  three  hours,  eatin  an'  abune  a'  drinkin,  as  still  as 
hoegs,  or  gruntin  puir  every  day  clashes,  goessip,  rub- 
bich ;  when  ye  are  aside  them,  ye  might  as  weel  be  aside 
a  cuddy ;  they  canna  gie  ye  a  sang,  they  canna  tell  ye  a 
story,  they  canna  think  ye  a  thoucht,  to  save  their  use- 
less lives ;  that's  voolgar  folk. 

She  sings.     "  A  caaller  herrin' ! " 

Jean.     "  A  caaller  herrin' ! " 

Omnes. 

"  Come  buy  my  bonny  caaller  hemn'. 
Six  a  penuy  caaller  from  the  sea,"  etc. 

The  music  chimed  in,  and  the  moment  the  song  was 
done,  without  pause,  or  anything  to  separate  or  chill  the 
succession  of  the  arts,  the  fiddles  diverged  with  a  gal- 
lant plunge  into  "  The  Dusty  Miller."  The  dancers 
found  their  feet  by  an  instinct  as  rapid,  and  a  rattling 
reel  shook  the  floor  like  thunder.  Jean  Carnie  assumed 
the  privilege  of  a  bride,  and  seized  his  lordship ;  Christie, 
who  had  a  mind  to  dance  with  him  too,  took  Flucker 
captive,  and  these  four  were  one  reel.  There  were  seven 
others. 

The  principle  of  reel-dancing  is  articulation ;  the  foot 
strikes  the  ground  for  every  accented  note ;  and,  by -the 
by,  it  is  their  weakness  of  accent  which  makes  all  Eng- 
lish reel  and  hornpipe  players  such  failures. 

And  in  the  best  steps  of  all,  which  it  has  in  common 
with  the  hornpipe,  such  as  the  quick  "  heel  and  toe," 
the  "  sailor's  fling,"  and  the  "  double  shufile,"  the  foot 
strikes  the  ground  for  every  single  note  of  the  instru- 
ment. 

All  good  dancing  is  beautiful. 

But  this  articulate  dancing,  compared  with  the  loose, 
lawless  difBuence  of  motion  that  goes  by  that  name, 
gives  me  (I  must  confess  it)  as  much  more  pleasure  as 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  93 

articulate  singing  is  superior  to  tunes  played  on  the 
voice  by  a  young  lady. 

Or  the  clean  playing  of  my  mother  to  the  pianoforte 
splashing  of  my  daughter ;  though  the  latter  does  attack 
the  instrument  as  a  washerwoman  her  soapsuds,  and  the 
former  works  like  a  lady  ; 

Or  skating  to  sliding  ; 

Or  English  verse  to  dactyls  in  English; 

Or  painting  to  daubing ; 

Or  preserved  strawberries  to  strawberry  jam. 

What  says  Goldsmith  of  the  two  styles  ? 

"  They  swam,  sprawled,  frisked,  and  languished ;  but 
Olivia's  foot  was  as  pat  to  the  music  as  its  echo."  —  Vicar 
of  Wakefield. 

Newhaven  dancing  aims  also  at  fun ;  laughter  mingles 
with  agility ;  grotesque,  yet  graceful  gestures  are  flung 
in,  and  little  inspiriting  cries  flung  out. 

His  lordship  soon  entered  into  the  spirit  of  it.  Deep 
in  the  mystery  of  the  hornpipe,  he  danced  one  or  two 
steps  Jean  and  Christie  had  never  seen,  but  their  eyes 
were  instantly  on  his  feet,  and  they  caught  in  a  minute, 
and  executed  these  same  steps. 

To  see  Christie  Johnstone  do  the  double-shuffle  with 
her  arms  so  saucily  a-kimbo,  and  her  quick,  elastic  foot 
at  an  angle  of  forty-five,  was  a  treat. 

The  dance  became  inspiriting,  inspiring,  intoxicating ; 
and  when  the  fiddles  at  last  left  off,  the  feet  went  on 
another  seven  bars  by  the  enthusiastic  impulse. 

And  so,  alternately  spinning  yarns,  singing  songs, 
dancing,  and  making  fun,  and  mingling  something  of 
heart  and  brain  in  all,  these  benighted  creatures  made 
themselves  happy  instead  of  peevish,  and  with  a  day  of 
stout,  vigorous,  healthy  pleasure,  refreshed,  indemnified, 
and  warmed  themselves  for  many  a  day  of  toil. 

Such  were  the  two  picnics  of  Inch  Coombe,  and  these 


94  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

rival  cliques,  agreeing  in  nothing  else,  would  have  agreed 
in  this :  each,  if  allowed  (but  we  won't  allow  either)  to 
judge  the  other,  would  have  pronounced  the  same 
verdict,  — 

'■'■  lis  ne  savent  jjcis  vivre  ces  gens-la.'' 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  96 


CHAPTER   XL 

Two  of  our  personages  left  Inch  Coombe  less  liappy 
than  when  they  came  to  it. 

Lord  Ipsdeu  encountered  Lady  Barbara  with  Mr. , 

who  had  joined  her  ujion  the  island. 

He  found  them  discoursing,  as  usual,  about  the  shams 
of  the  present  day,  and  the  sincerity  of  Cromwell  and 
Mahomet,  and  he  found  himself  de  trojy. 

They  made  him,  for  the  first  time,  regret  the  loss  of 
those  earnest  times  Avhen,  "  to  avoid  the  inconvenience 
of  both  addressing  the  same  lady,"  you  could  cut  a  rival's 
throat  at  once,  and  be  smiled  on  by  the  fair  and  society. 

That  a  book-maker  should  blaspheme  high  civilization, 
by  which  alone  he  exists,  and  one  of  whose  diseases  and 
flying  pains  he  is,  neither  surprised  nor  moved  him ;  but 
that  any  human  being's  actions  should  be  affected  by 
such  tempestuous  twaddle,  was  ridiculous. 

And  that  the  witty  Lady  Barbara  should  be  caught  by 
this  chaff  was  intolerable ;  he  began  to  feel  bitter. 

He  had  the  blessings  of  the  poor,  the  good  opinion  of 
the  world ;  every  living  creature  was  prepossessed  in  his 
favor  but  one,  and  that  one  despised  him ;  it  was  a  dia- 
bolical prejudice  ;  it  was  the  spiteful  caprice  of  his  fate. 

His  heart,  for  a  moment,  was  in  danger  of  deteriorat- 
ing. He  was  miserable  ;  the  devil  suggested  to  him, 
"make  others  miserable  too;"  and  he  listened  to  the 
advice. 

There  was  a  fine  breeze,  but  instead  of  sailing  on  a 
wind,  as  he  might  have  done,  he  made  a  series  of  tacks, 
and  all  were  ill. 


96  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

The  earnest  nican  first ;  and  Flucker  announced  the  skip- 
per's insanity  to  the  whole  town  of  Newhaven,  for,  of 
course,  these  tacks  were  all  marine  solecisms. 

The  other  discontented  picnic-ian  was  Christie  John- 
stone. Gatty  never  came ;  and  this,  coupled  with  five  or 
six  days'  previous  neglect,  could  no  longer  pass  unnoticed. 

Her  gayety  failed  her  before  the  afternoon  was  ended  ; 
and  the  last  two  hours  were  spent  by  her  alone,  watch- 
ing the  water  on  all  sides  for  him. 

At  last,  long  after  the  departure  of  his  lordship's 
yacht,  the  Newhaven  boat  sailed  from  Inch  Coombe  with 
the  wedding  party.  There  was  now  a  strong  breeze,  and 
the  water  every  now  and  then  came  on  board;  so  the 
men  set  the  foresail  with  two  reefs,  and  drew  the  main- 
sail over  the  Avomen ;  and  there,  as  they  huddled  together 
in  the  dark,  Jean  Carnie  discovered  that  our  gay  story- 
teller's eyes  were  wet  with  tears. 

Jean  said  nothing ;  she  embraced  her,  and  made  thera 
flow  faster. 

But  when  they  came  alongside  the  pier,  Jean,  who  was 
the  first  to  get  her  head  from  under  the  sail,  whipped  it 
back  again,  and  said  to  Christie,  — 

"  Here  he  is,  Christie  ;  dinna  speak  till  him." 

And  sure  enough  there  was,  in  the  twilight,  with  a 
pale  face  and  an  uneasy  look  —  Mr.  Charles  Gatty ! 

He  peered  timidly  into  the  boat,  and  when  he  saw 
Christie,  an  "  Ah  ! "  that  seemed  to  mean  twenty  different 
things  at  once,  burst  from  his  bosom.  He  held  out  his 
arm  to  assist  her. 

She  cast  on  him  one  glance  of  mute  reproach,  and 
placing  her  foot  on  the  boat's  gunwale,  sprang  like  an 
antelope  upon  the  pier,  without  accepting  his  assistance. 

Before  going  farther,  we  must  go  back  for  this  boy, 
and  conduct  him  from  where  we  left  him  up  to  the 
present  point. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  97 

The  moment  lie  found  himself  alone  with  Jean  Carnie. 
in  his  own  house,  he  began  to  tell  her  what  trouble  he 
was  in ;  how  his  mother  had  convinced  him  of  his 
imprudence  in  falling  in  love  with  Christie  Johnstone ; 
and  how  she  insisted  on  a  connection  being  broken  off, 
which  had  given  him  his  first  glimpse  of  heaven  upon 
earth,  and  was  contrary  to  common-sense. 

Jean  heard  him  out,  and  then,  with  the  air  of  a  lunatic- 
asylum  keeper  to  a  rhodomontading  patient,  told  him 
"  he  was  one  fool,  and  his  mother  was  another."  First 
she  took  him  up  on  the  score  of  prudence. 

"You,"  said  she,  "are  a  beggarly  painter,  without  a 
rap ;  Christie  has  houses,  boats,  nets,  and  money  :  you 
are  in  debt ;  she  lays  by  money  every  week.  It  is  not 
prudent  on  her  part  to  take  up  with  you  —  the  better 
your  bargain,  my  lad." 

Under  the  head  of  common-sense,  which  she  main- 
tained was  all  on  the  same  side  of  the  question,  she 
calmly  inquired,  — 

"  How  could  an  old  woman  of  sixty  be  competent  to 
judge  how  far  human  happiness  depends  on  love,  when 
she  has  no  experience  of  that  passion,  and  the  reminis- 
cences of  her  youth  have  become  dim  and  dark  ?  You 
might  as  well  set  a  judge  in  court,  that  has  forgotten  the 
law,  —  common-sense  ;  "  said  she,  "  the  old  wife  is  sixty, 
and  you  are  twenty  —  what  can  she  do  for  you  the  forty 
years  you  may  reckon  to  outlive  her  ?  Who  is  to  keep 
you  through  those  weary  years,  but  the  wife  of  your  own 
choice,  not  your  mother's  ?  You  English  does  na  read 
the  Bible,  or  ye'd  ken  that  a  lad  is  to  '  leave  his  father 
and  mother,  and  cleave  until  his  wife, ' "  added  she ; 
then,  with  great  contempt,  she  repeated,  "  common-sense, 
indeed  !  ye're  fou  wi'  your  common-sense ;  ye  hae  the 
name  o't  pat  eneuch  —  but  there's  na  muckle  o'  that 
mairchandize  in  your  harns." 


98  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

Gatty  was  astonished :  what !  was  there  really  common- 
sense  on  the  side  of  bliss  ?  and  when  Jean  told  him  to 
join  her  party  at  Inch  Coombe,  or  never  look  her  in  the 
face  again,  scales  seemed  to  fall  from  his  eyes ;  and  with 
a  heart  that  turned  in  a  moment  from  lead  to  a  feather, 
he  vowed  he  would  be  at  Inch  Coombe. 

He  then  begged  Jean  on  no  account  to  tell  Christie 
the  struggle  he  had  been  subjected  to,  since  his  scruples 
were  now  entirely  conquered. 

Jean  acquiesced  at  once,  and  said,  ''  Indeed,  she  would 
be  very  sorry  to  give  the  lass  that  muckle  pain." 

She  hinted,  moreover,  that  her  neebor's  spirit  was  so 
high,  she  was  quite  capable  of  breaking  with  him  at  once 
upon  such  an  intimation ;  and  she,  Jean,  was  "  nae  mis- 
chief-maker." 

In  the  energy  of  his  gratitude,  he  kissed  this  dark- 
browed  beauty,  professing  to  see  in  her  a  sister. 

And  she  made  no  resistance  to  this  way  of  showing 
gratitude,  but  muttered  between  her  teeth,  "He's  just  a 
bairn  ! " 

And  so  she  went  about  her  business. 

On  her  retreat,  his  mother  returned  to  him,  and,  with 
a  sad  air,  hoped  nothing  that  that  rude  girl  had  said  had 
weakened  his  filial  duty. 

"  No,  mother,"  said  he. 

She  then,  without  explaining  how  she  came  acquainted 
with  Jean's  arguments,  proceeded  to  demolish  them  one 
by  one. 

"If  your  mother  is  old  and  experienced,"  said  she, 
"benefit  by  her  age  and  experience.  She  has  not  for- 
gotten love,  nor  the  ills  it  leads  to,  when  not  fortified  by 
prudence.  Scripture  says,  a  man  shall  cleave  to  his  wife 
when  he  has  left  his  parents  ;  but  in  making  that,  the 
most  important  step  of  life,  where  do  you  read  that  he 
is  to  break  the  fifth  commandment  ?     But  I   do  you 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  99 

wrong,  Charles,  you  never  could  have  listened  to  that 
vulgar  girl  when  she  told  you  your  mother  was  not  your 
best  friend." 

"N — no,  mother,  of  course  not." 

"  Then  you  will  not  go  to  that  place  to  break  my  heart, 
and  undo  all  you  have  done  this  week  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  to  go,  mother." 

"You  will  break  my  heart  if  you  do." 

"Christie  will  feel  herself  slighted,  and  she  has  not 
deserved  this  treatment  from  me." 

"  The  other  will  explain  to  her,  and  if  she  is  as  good  a 
girl  as  you  say  "  — 

"  She  is  an  angel !  " 

"  How  can  a  fishwife  be  an  angel  ?  Well,  then  she 
will  not  set  a  son  to  disobey  his  mother." 

"  I  don't  think  she  would !  but  is  all  the  goodness  to 
be  on  her  side  ?  " 

"  No,  Charles,  you  do  your  part ;  deny  yourself,  be  an 
obedient  child,  and  your  mother's  blessing  and  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven  will  rest  upon  you." 

In  short,  he  was  not  to  go  to  Inch  Coombe. 

He  stayed  at  home,  his  mother  set  him  to  work ;  he 
made  a  poor  hand  of  it,  he  was  so  wretched.  She  at  last 
took  compassion  on  him,  and  in  the  evening,  when  it 
was  now  too  late  for  a  sail  to  Inch  Coombe,  she  herself 
recommended  a  walk  to  him. 

The  poor  boy's  feet  took  him  towards  ISTewhaven,  not 
that  he  meant  to  go  to  his  love,  but  he  could  not  forbear 
from  looking  at  the  place  which  held  hei*. 

He  was  about  to  return,  when  a  spacious  blue  jacket 
hailed  him.  Somewhere  inside  this  jacket  was  Master 
Flucker,  who  had  returned  in  the  yacht,  leaving  his  sister 
on  the  island. 

Gatty  instantly  poured  out  a  flood  of  questions. 

The  baddish  boy  reciprocated  fluency  ;  he  informed 


100  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

him  "  that  his  sister  had  been  the  star  of  a  goodly  com- 
pany, and  that  her  own  lad  having  stayed  away,  she  had 
condescended  to  make  a  conquest  of  the  skipper  him- 
self. 

"  He  had  come  in  quite  at  the  tag  end  of  one  of  her 
stories,  but  it  had  been  sufficient  to  do  his  business  —  he 
had  danced  with  her,  had  even  whistled  whilst  she  sung. 
(Hech,  it  was  bonny  !) 

"  And  when  the  cutter  sailed,  he  (Flucker)  had  seen 
her  perched  on  a  rock,  like  a  mermaid,  watching  their 
progress,  which  had  been  slow,  because  the  skipper,  in- 
fatuated with  so  sudden  a  passion,  had  made  a  series  of 
ungrammatical  tacks. 

"  For  his  part  he  was  glad,"  said  the  gracious  Flucker ; 
"the  lass  was  a  prideful  hussy,  that  had  given  some 
twenty  lads  a  sore  heart  and  him  many  a  sore  back ;  and 
he  hoped  his  skipper,  with  whom  he  naturally  identified 
himself  rather  than  with  his  sister,  would  avenge  the 
male  sex  upon  her."  , 

In  short,  he  went  upon  this  tack  till  he  drove  poor 
Gatty  nearly  mad. 

Here  was  a  new  feeling  superadded ;  at  first  he  felt 
injured,  but  on  reflection  what  cause  of  complaint  had 
he? 

He  had  neglected  her;  he  might  have  been  her  partner 
—  he  had  left  her  to  find  one  where  she  could. 

Fool,  to  suppose  that  so  beautiful  a  creature  would 
ever  be  neglected  —  except  by  him  ! 

It  was  more  than  he  could  bear. 

He  determined  to  see  her,  to  ask  her  forgiveness,  to 
tell  her  everything,  to  beg  her  to  decide,  and,  for  his 
part,  he  would  abide  by  her  decision. 

Christie  Johnstone,  as  we  have  already  related,  de- 
clined his  arm,  spraiig  like  a  deer  upon  the  pier,  and 
walked  towards  her  homC;  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE,  101 

Gatty  followed  her,  disconsolately,  hardly  knowing 
what  to  do. 

At  last,  observing  that  she  drew  near  enough  to  the 
wall  to  allow  room  for  another  on  the  causeway,  he  had 
just  nous  enough  to  creep  alongside,  and  pull  her  sleeve 
somewhat  timidly. 

''  Christie,  I  want  to  speak  to  you." 

"  What  can  ye  hae  to  say  till  me  ?  " 

"  Christie,  I  am  very  unhappy ;  and  I  want  to  tell  you 
why,  but  I  have  hardly  the  strength  or  the  courage." 

"  Ye  shall  come  ben  my  hoose  if  ye  are  unhappy,  and 
we'll  hear  your  story  ;  come  away." 

He  had  never  been  admitted  into  her  house  before. 

They  found  it  clean  as  a  snowdrift. 

They  found  a  bright  fire,  and  Flucker  frying  innumer- 
able steaks. 

The  baddish  boy  had  obtained  them  in  his  sister's 
name  and  at  her  expense,  at  the  flesher's,  and  claimed 
credit  for  his  affection. 

Potatoes  he  had  boiled  in  their  jackets,  and  so  skil- 
fully, that  those  jackets  hung  by  a  thread. 

Christie  laid  an  unbleached  tablecloth,  that  somehow 
looked  sweeter  than  a  white  one,  as  brown  bread  is 
sweeter  than  white. 

But  lo,  Gatty  could  not  eat;  so  then  Christie  would 
not,  because  he  refused  her  cheer. 

The  baddish  boy  chuckled,  and  addressed  himself  to 
the  nice  brown  steaks  with  their  rich  gravy. 

On  such  occasions  a  solo  on  the  knife  and  fork  seemed 
better  than  a  trio  to  the  gracious  Flucker. 

Christie  moved  about  the  room,  doing  little  household 
matters ;  Gatty's  eye  followed  her. 

Her  beauty  lost  nothing  in  this  small  apartment ;  she 
was  here,  like  a  brilliant  in  some  quaint,  rough  setting, 
which  all  earth's  jewellers  should  despise,  and  all  its 


102  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

poets  admire,  and  it  should  show  off  the  stone  and  not 
itself. 

Her  beauty  filled  the  room,  and  almost  made  the  spec- 
tators ill. 

Gatty  asked  himself  whether  he  could  really  have 
been  such  a  fool  as  to  think  of  giving  up  so  peerless  a 
creature. 

Suddenly  an  idea  occurred  to  him,  a  bright  one,  and 
not  inconsistent  with  a  true  artist's  character — he  would 
decline  to  act  in  so  doubtful  a  case ;  he  would  float  pass- 
ively down  the  tide  of  events  —  he  would  neither  desert 
her,  nor  disobey  his  mother ;  he  would  take  everything 
as  it  came,  and  to  begin,  as  he  was  there,  he  would  for 
the  present  say  nothing  but  what  he  felt,  and  what  he 
felt  was  that  he  loved  her. 

He  told  her  so  accordingly. 

She  replied,  concealing  her  satisfaction,  "that  if  he 
liked  her,  he  would  not  have  refused  to  eat  when  she 
asked  him." 

But  our  hero's  appetite  had  returned  with  his  change 
of  purpose,  and  he  instantly  volunteered  to  give  the 
required  proof  of  affection. 

Accordingly  two  pound  of  steaks  fell  before  him. 

Poor  boy  —  he  had  hardly  eaten  a  genuine  meal  for  a 
week  past. 

Christie  sat  opposite  him,  and  every  time  he  looked 
off  his  plate,  he  saw  her  rich  blue  eyes  dwelling  on  him. 

Everything  contributed  to  warm  his  heart,  he  yielded 
to  the  spell,  he  became  contented,  happy,  gay. 

Flucker  ginger-cordialled  him,  his  sister  bewitched 
him. 

She  related  the  day's  events  in  a  merry  mood. 

Mr.  Gatty  burst  forth  into  singing. 

He  sung  two  light  and  sombre  trifles,  such  as  in  the 
present  day  are  deemed  generally  encouraging  to  the 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  103 

spirits,  and  particularly  in  accordance  with  the  senti- 
ment of  supper  —  they  were  about  death,  and  ivy  green. 

The  dog's  voice  was  not  very  powerful,  but  sweet  and 
round  as  honey  dropping  from  the  comb. 

His  two  hearers  were  entranced,  for  the  creature  sang 
with  an  inspiration  good  singers  dare  not  indulge. 

He  concluded  by  informing  Christie  that  the  ivy  was 
symbolical  of  her,  and  the  oak  prefigured  Charles  Gatty, 
Esq. 

He  might  have  inverted  the  simile  with  more  truth. 

In  short,  he  never  said  a  word  to  Christie  about  part- 
ing with  her,  but  several  about  being  buried  in  the  same 
grave  with  her,  sixty  years  hence,  for  which  the  spot  he 
selected  was  Westminster  Abbey. 

And  away  he  went,  leaving  golden  opinions  behind 
him. 

The  next  day  Christie  was  so  affected  with  his  con- 
duct, coming  as  it  did,  after  an  apparent  coolness,  that 
she  conquered  her  bashfulness  and  called  on  the  "  Vile 
Count,"  and  with  some  blushes  and  hesitation,  inquired 
*'  Whether  a  painter  lad  was  a  fit  subject  of  charity." 

*'  Why  not  ?  "  said  his  lordship. 

She  then  told  him  Gatty's  case,  and  he  instantly  prom- 
ised to  see  that  artist's  pictures,  particularly  "  ane  awfu' 
bonny  ane,"  the  hero  of  which  she  described  as  an  Eng- 
lish minister  blessing  the  bairns  with  one  hand,  and  giv- 
ing orders  to  kill  the  puir  Scoetch  with  the  other. 

"  C'est  ef/al/'  said  Christie  in  Scotch,  "its  awfu'  bonny." 

Gatty  reached  home  late ;  his  mother  had  retired  to 
rest. 

But  the  next  morning  she  drew  from  him  what  had 
happened,  and  then  ensued  another  of  those  dialogues 
which  I  am  ashamed  again  to  give  the  reader. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  that  she  once  more  prevailed,  though 
with  far  greater  difficulty.    Time  was  to  be  given  him  to 


104  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

unsew  a  connection  which  he  could  not  cut  asunder,  and 
he,  with  tearful  eyes  and  a  heavy  heart,  agreed  to  take 
some  step  the  very  first  opportunity. 

This  concession  was  hardly  out  of  his  mouth  ere  his 
mother  made  him  kneel  down  and  bestowed  her  blessing 
upon  him.  He  received  it  coldly  and  dully,  and  ex- 
pressed a  languid  hope  it  might  prove  a  charm  to  save 
him  from  despair,  and  sad,  bitter,  and  dejected,  forced 
himself  to  sit  down  and  work  on  the  picture  that  was  to 
meet  his  unrelenting  creditor's  demand. 

He  was  working  on  his  picture,  and  his  mother  with 
her  needle  at  the  table,  when  a  knock  was  heard,  and, 
gay  as  a  lark,  and  fresh  as  the  dew  on  the  shamrock, 
Christie  Johnstone  stood  in  person  in  the  apart- 
ment. 

She  was  evidently  the  bearer  of  good  tidings ;  but 
before  she  could  express  them,  Mrs.  Gatty  beckoned  her 
son  aside,  and  announcing  "  she  should  be  within  hear- 
ing," bade  him  take  the  occasion  that  so  happily  pre- 
sented itself,  and  make  the  first  step. 

At  another  time,  Christie,  who  had  learned  from  Jean 
the  arrival  of  Mrs.  Gatty,  would  have  been  struck  with 
the  old  lady's  silence ;  but  she  came  to  tell  the  depressed 
painter  that  the  charitable  viscount  was  about  to  visit 
him  and  his  picture ;  and  she  was  so  full  of  the  good 
fortune  likely  to  ensue,  that  she  was  neglectful  of  minor 
considerations. 

It  so  happened,  however,  that  certain  interruptions 
prevented  her  from  ever  delivering  herself  of  the  news 
in  question. 

First,  Gatty  himself  came  to  her,  and,  casting  uneasy 
glances  at  the  door  by  which  his  mother  had  just  gone 
out,  said,  — 

"Christie!" 

"  My  lad ! " 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  105 

"  I  want  to  paint  your  likeness." 

This  was  for  a  souvenir,  poor  fellow  ! 

"  Hech  !  I  wad  like  fine  to  be  painted." 

"  It  must  be  exactly  the  same  size  as  yourself,  and  so 
like  you,  that  should  we  be  parted  I  may  seem  not  to  be 
quite  alone  in  the  world." 

Here  he  was  obliged  to  turn  his  head  away. 

"  But  we'll  no  pairt,"  replied  Christie  cheerfully. 
"  Suppose  ye're  puir,  I'm  rich,  and  it's  a'  one  ;  dinna  be 
so  cast  down  for  auchty  pund." 

At  this  a  slipshod  servant  entered,  and  said,  — 

''  There's  a  fisher  lad  inquiring  for  Christie  John- 
stone." 

"  It  will  be  Flucker,"  said  Christie;  ''show  him  ben. 
What's  wrang  the  noo,  I  wonder  ?  " 

The  baddish  boy  entered,  took  up  a  position,  and 
remained  apparently  passive,  hands  in  pockets. 

Christie.     Aweel,  what  est  ? 

Flucker.     Gusty. 

Christie.     What's  your  will,  my  manny  ? 

Flucker.     Custy,  I  was  at  Inch  Keith  the  day. 

Christie.  And  hae  ye  really  come  to  Edinbro'  to  tell 
me  thaat  ? 

Flucker  (dryly).  Oh !  ye  ken  the  lasses  are  a  hantle 
Aviser  than  we  are  —  will  ye  hear  me  ?  South  Inch 
Keith,  I  played  a  bowl  i'  the  water,  just  for  divairsion, 
—  and  I  catched  twarree  fish  ! 

Christie.     Floonders,  I  bet. 

Flucker.  Does  floonders  swim  high  ?  I'll  let  you  see 
his  gills,  and  if  ye  are  .a  reicht  fishwife  ye'll  smell 
bluid. 

Here  he  opened  his  jacket,  and  showed  a  bright  little 
fish. 

In  a  moment  all  Christie's  nonchalance  gave  way  to  a 
fiery  animation.     She  darted  to  Flucker's  side. 


106  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  Ye  hae  na  been  sae  daft  as  tell  ?  "  asked  she. 

Flucker  shook  his  head  contemptuously. 

"  Ony  birds  at  the  island,  Flucker  ?  " 

"  Sea-maws,  plenty,  and  a  bird  I  dinna  ken ;  he  moonted 
sae  high,  then  doon  like  thunder  intil  the  sea,  and  gart 
the  -water  flee  as  high  as  Haman,  and  porpoises  as  big 
as  my  boat." 

"  Porr-poises,  fulish  laddy — ye  hae  seen  the  herrin 
whale  at  his  wark,  and  the  solant  guse  ye  hae  seen  her 
at  wark  ;  and  beneath  the  sea,  Flucker,  every  coed-fish 
and  doeg-fish,  and  fish  that  has  teeth,  is  after  them  ;  and 
half  Scotland  wad  be  at  Inch  Keith  Island  if  they  kenned 
what  ye  hae  tell't  me  —  dinna  speak  to  me." 

During  this,  Gatty,  who  did  not  comprehend  this  sud- 
den excitement,  or  thought  it  childish,  had  tried  in  vain 
to  win  her  attention. 

At  last  he  said  a  little  peevishly,  ''  Will  you  not  attend 
to  me,  and  tell  me  at  least  when  you  will  sit  to  me  ?  " 

"  Set !  "  cried  she.  "  When  there's  nae  wark  to  be 
done  stanning." 

And  with  this  she  was  gone.  At  the  foot  of  the  stairs 
she  said  to  her  brother,  — 

"  Puir  lad  !  I'll  sune  draw  auchty  punds  f  ra'  the  sea 
for  him,  with  my  feyther's  nets." 

As  she  disappeared,  Mrs.  Gatty  appeared. 

"  And  this  is  the  woman  whose  mind  was  not  in  her 
dirty  business,"  cried  she.  "  Does  not  that  open  your 
eyes,  Charles  ?  " 

"  Ah  !  Charles,"  added  she  tenderly,  "  there's  no  friend 
like  a  mother." 

And  off  she  carried  the  prize  ;  his  vanity  had  been 
mortified. 

And  so  that  happened  to  Christie  Johnstone  which 
has  befallen  many  a  woman,  —  the  greatness  of  her  love 
made  that  love  appear  small  to  her  lover. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  107 

"Ah  !  mother,"  cried  he,  "  I  must  live  for  you  and  my 
art :  I  am  not  so  dear  to  her  as  I  thouglit." 

And  so,  with  a  sad  heart,  he  turned  away  from  her, 
whilst  she,  with  a  light  heart,  darted  away  to  think  and 
act  for  him. 


JOS  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

It  was  some  two  hours  after  tliis  that  a  gentleman, 
plainly  dressed,  but  whose  clothes  seemed  a  part  of  him- 
self, —  whereas  mine  I  have  observed  hang  upon  me,  and 
the  Rev.  Josiah  Splitall's  stick  to  him,  —  glided  into  the 
painter's  room,  with  a,n  inquiry  whether  he  had  not  a 
picture  or  two  disposable. 

"I  have  one  finished  picture,  sir,"  said  the  poor  boy, 
"  but  the  price  is  high." 

He  brought  it,  in  a  faint-hearted  way,  for  he  had 
shown  it  to  five  picture-dealers,  and  all  live  agreed  it 
was  hard. 

He  had  painted  a  lime-tree,  distant  fifty  yards,  and  so 
painted  it  that  it  looked  something  like  a  lime-tree  fifty 
yards  off. 

"That  was  viesqum,"  said  his  judges  ;  "the  poetry  of 
painting  required  abstract  trees  at  metaphysical  distance, 
not  the  various  trees  of  nature  as  they  appear  under 
positive  accidents." 

On  this  Mr.  Gatty  had  deluged  them  with  words. 

"  When  it  is  art,  truth,  or  sense,  to  fuse  a  cow,  a  horse, 
and  a  critic,  into  one  undistinguishable  quadruped,  with 
six  legs,  then  it  will  be  art  to  melt  an  ash,  an  elm,  and 
a  lime,  things  that  differ  more  than  quadrupeds,  into 
what  you  call  abstract  trees,  that  any  man  who  has  seen 
a  tree,  as  well  as  looked  at  one,  would  call  drunken 
stinging-nettles.  You,  who  never  look  at  nature,  how 
can  you  judge  the  arts,  which  are  all  but  copies  of 
nature  ?  At  two  hundred  yards  distance,  full-grown 
trees  are  more  distinguishable  than  the  animal  tribe. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  l09 

Paint  me  an  abstract  human  being,  neither  man  nor  a 
woman,"  said  he,  "  and  tlien  I  will  agree  to  paint  a  tree 
that  shall  be  no  tree ;  and  if  no  man  will  buy  it,  perhaps 
the  father  of  lies  will  take  it  off  my  hands,  and  hang  it 
in  the  only  place  it  would  not  disgrace." 

In  short,  he  never  left  off  till  he  had  crushed  the  non- 
buyers  with  eloquence  and  satire  ;  but  he  could  not  crush 
them  into  buyers,  —  they  beat  him  at  the  passive  retort. 

Poor  Gatty,  when  the  momentary  excitement  of  argu- 
ment had  subsided,  drank  the  bitter  cup  all  must  drink 
awhile,  whose  bark  is  alive  and  strong  enough  to  stem 
the  current  down  which  the  dead,  weak  things  of  the 
world  are  drifting,  many  of  them  into  safe  harbors. 

And  now  he  brought  out  his  picture  with  a  heavy 
heart. 

"Xow,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  this  gentleman  will  talk 
me  dead,  and  leave  me  no  richer  in  coin,  and  poorer  in 
time  and  patience." 

The  picture  was  placed  in  a  light,  the  visitor  sat  down 
before  it. 

A  long  pause  ensued. 

"  Has  he  fainted  ?  "  thought  Gatty,  ironically  ;  "  he 
doesn't  gabble." 

"If  you  do  not  mind  painting  before  me,"  said  the 
visitor,  "  I  should  be  glad  if  you  would  continue  whilst  I 
look  into  this  picture." 

Gatty  painted. 

The  visitor  held  his  tongue. 

At  first  the  silence  made  the  artist  uneasy,  but  by 
degrees  it  began  to  give  him  pleasure ;  whoever  this  was, 
it  was  not  one  of  the  flies  that  had  hitherto  stung  him, 
nor  the  jackdaws  that  had  chattered  him  dead. 

Glorious  silence  !  he  began  to  paint  under  its  influence 
like  one  inspired. 

Half  an  hour  passed  thus. 


110  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"What  is  the  price  of  this  work  of  art?  '* 

"  Eighty  pounds." 

"I  take  it,"  said  his  visitor,  quietly. 

What,  no  more  difficulty  than  that  ?  He  felt  almost 
disappointed  at  gaining  his  object  so  easily. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  you,  sir ;  much  obliged  to  you,"  he 
added,  for  he  reflected  what  eighty  pounds  were  to  him 
just  then. 

"It  is  my  descendants  who  are  obliged  to  you,"  re- 
plied the  gentleman ;  "the  picture  is  immortal !  " 

These  words  were  an  epoch  in  the  painter's  life. 

The  grave,  silent  inspection  that  had  preceded  them, 
the  cool,  deliberate,  masterly  tone  in  which  they  were 
said,  made  them  oracular  to  him. 

Words  of  such  import  took  him  by  surprise. 

He  had  thirsted  for  average  praise  in  vain. 

A  hand  had  taken  him,  and  placed  him  at  the  top  of 
the  tree. 

He  retired  abruptly,  or  he  would  have  burst  into 
tears. 

He  ran  to  his  mother. 

"Mother," said  he,  " I  am  a  painter ;  T  always  thought 
so  at  bottom,  but  I  suppose  it  is  the  height  of  my  ideas 
makes  me  discontented  with  my  work." 

"  Wliat  has  happened  ?  " 

"There  is  a  critic  in  my  room.  I  had  no  idea  there 
was  a  critic  in  the  creation,  and  there  is  one  in  my 
room." 

"  Has  he  bought  your  picture,  my  poor  boy  ? "  said 
Mrs.  Gatty,  distrustfully. 

To  her  surprise  he  replied: 

"Yes!  he  has  got  it;  only  eighty  pounds  for  an 
immortal  picture." 

Mrs.  Gatty  was  overjoyed,  Gatty  was  a  little  sad ;  but 
reviving,  he  professed  himself  glad ;  the  picture  was 
going  to  a  judge. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  Ill 

"  It  is  not  nrncli  money,"  said  lie,  "  but  the  man  has 
spoken  words  that  are  ten  thousand  pounds  to  me." 

He  returned  to  the  room  ;  his  visitor,  hat  in  hand,  was 
about  to  go ;  a  few  words  were  spolien  about  tlie  art  of 
painting,  this  led  to  a  conversation,  and  then  to  a  short 
discussion. 

The  new-comer  soon  showed  Mr.  Charles  Gatty  his 
ignorance  of  facts. 

This  man  had  sat  quietly  before  a  multitude  of  great 
pictures,  new  and  old,  in  Europe. 

He  cooled  down  Charles  Gatty,  Esq ,  monopolist  of 
nature  and  truth. 

He  quoted  to  him  thirty  painters  in  Germany,  who 
paint  every  stroke  of  a  landscape  in  the  open  air,  and 
forty  in  various  nations  who  had  done  it  in  times  past. 

"  You,  sir,"  he  went  on,  "  appear  to  hang  on  the  skirts 
of  a  certain  clique,  who  handle  the  brush  well,  but  draw 
ill,  and  look  at  nature  through  the  spectacles  of  certain 
ignorant  painters  who  spoiled  canvas  four  hundred  years 
ago. 

"  Go  no  farther  in  that  direction. 

"Those  boys,  like  all  quacks,  have  one  great  truth 
which  they  disfigure  with  more  than  one  falsehood. 

"  Hold  fast  their  truth,  which  is  a  truth  the  world  has 
always  possessed,  though  its  practice  has  been  confined 
to  the  honest  and  laborious  few. 

"  Eschew  their  want  of  mind  and  taste. 

"  Shrink  with  horror  from  that  profane  culte  de  laideur, 
that  'love  of  the  lop-sided,'  they  have  recovered  from 
the  foul  receptacles  of  decayed  art." 

He  reminded  him  further,  that  "  Art  is  not  imitation, 
but  illusion  ;  that  a  plumber  and  glazier  of  our  day  and 
a  mediseval  painter  are  more  alike  than  any  two  repre- 
sentatives of  general  styles  that  can  be  found ;  and  for 
the  same  reason,  namely,  that  with  each  of  these,  art  is 


112  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

in  its  infancy ;  these  two  sets  of  bunglers  have  not 
learned  how  to  produce  the  illusions  of  art." 

To  all  this  he  added  a  few  words  of  compliment  on 
the  mind,  as  well  as  mechanical  dexterity,  of  the  pur- 
chased picture,  bade  him  good-morning,  and  glided  away 
like  a  passing  sunbeam. 

"A  mother's  blessing  is  a  great  thing  to  have,  and  to 
deserve,"  said  Mrs.  Gatty,  who  had  rejoined  her  son. 

"  It  is,  indeed,"  said  Charles.  He  could  not  help  being 
struck  by  the  coincidence. 

He  had  made  a  sacrifice  to  his  mother,  and  in  a  few 
hours  one  of  his  troubles  had  melted  away. 

In  the  midst  of  these  reflections  arrived  Mr.  Saunders 
with  a  note. 

The  note  contained  a  check  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  with  these  lines,  in  which  the  writer  excused 
himself  for  the  amendment :  ''  I  am  a  painter  myself," 
said  he,  "  and  it  is  impossible  that  eighty  pounds  can 
remunerate  the  time  expended  on  this  picture,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  skill." 

We  have  treated  this  poor  boy's  picture  hitherto  with 
just  contempt,  but  now  that  it  is  gone  into  a  famous  col- 
lection, mind,  we  always  admired  it ;  we  always  said  so, 
we  take  our  oath  we  did ;  if  we  have  hitherto  deferred 
framing  it,  that  was  merely  because  it  was  not  sold. 

MR.    GATTY's    picture,    AT    PRESENT    IN    THE    COLLECTION 
OF    LORD    IPSDEN. 

There  was,  hundreds  of  years  ago,  a  certain  Bishop  of 
Durham,  who  used  to  fight  in  person  against  the  Scotch, 
and  defeat  them.  When  he  was  not  with  his  flock,  the 
Northern  wolves  sometimes  scattered  it;  but  when  the 
holy  father  was  there,  with  his  prayers  and  his  battle- 
axe,  England  won  the  day  ! 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  113 

This  nettled  the  Scottish  king,  so  he  penetrated  one 
day,  with  a  large  band,  as  far  as  Durham  itself,  and  for 
a  short  time  blocked  the  prelate  up  in  his  stronghold. 
This  was  the  period  of  Mr.  Gatty's  picture ; 

Whose  title  was,  — 

"Half  Church  of  God,  half  Tower  against  the  Scot." 

In  the  background  was  the  cathedral,  on  the  towers  of 
which  paced  to  and  fro  men  in  armor,  with  the  western 
sun  glittering  thereon.  In  the  centre,  a  horse  and  cart, 
led  by  a  boy,  were  carrying  a  sheaf  of  arrows,  tied  with 
a  straw  band.  In  part  of  the  foreground  was  the  prelate, 
in  a  half  suit  of  armor,  but  bareheaded ;  he  was  turning 
away  from  the  boy,  to  whom  his  sinking  hand  had  indi- 
cated his  way  into  the  holy  castle,  and  his  benignant 
glance  rested  on  a  child,  whom  its  mother  was  holding 
up  for  his  benediction.  In  the  foreground  the  afternoon 
beams  sprinkled  gold  on  a  long  glassy  slope,  correspond- 
ing to  the  elevation  on  which  the  cathedral  stood,  sepa- 
rated by  the  river  Wear  from  the  group ;  and  these  calm 
beauties  of  nature,  with  the  mother  and  child,  were  the 
peaceful  side  of  this  twofold  story. 

Such  are  the  dry  details.  But  the  soul  of  its  charm 
no  pen  can  fling  on  paper.  For  the  stately  cathedral 
stood  and  lived:  the  little  leaves  slumbered  yet  lived; 
and  the  stor}'  floated  and  lived,  in  the  potable  gold  of 
summer  afternoon. 

To  look  at  this  painted  poem  was  to  feel  a  thrill  of 
pleasure  in  bare  existence  ;  it  went  through  the  eyes, 
where  paintings  stop,  and  warmed  the  depths  and  re- 
cesses of  the  heart  with  its  sunshine  and  its  glorious 
air. 


114  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

"What  is  in  the  wind  this  dark  night?  Six  New- 
haven  boats  and  twenty  boys  and  hobble-de-hoys,  hired 
by  the  Johnstones  at  half  a  crown  each  for  a  night's  job." 

"  Secret  service  !  " 

"  What  is  it  for  ?  " 

"I  think  it  is  a  smnggling  lay,"  suggested  Flucker; 
"  but  we  shall  know  all  in  good  time." 

"  Smuggling !  "  their  countenances  fell,  they  had  hoped 
for  something  more  nearly  approaching  the  illegal. 

"  jVIaybe  she  has  fand  the  herrin',"  said  a  ten-year-old. 

"  Haw,  haAv,  haw  !  "  went  the  others.  "  She  find  the 
herrin',  when  there's  five  hundred  fishermen  after  them 
baith  sides  the  Firrth." 

The  youngster  was  discomfited. 

In  fact  the  expedition  bore  no  signs  of  fishing. 

The  six  boats  sailed  at  sundown,  led  by  Flucker ;  he 
brought-to  on  the  south  side  of  Inch  Keith,  and  nothing 
happened  for  about  an  hour. 

Then  such  boys  as  were  awake,  saw  two  great  eyes  of 
light  coming  up  from  Granton  ;  rattle  went  the  chain 
cable,  and  Lord  Ipsden's  cutter  swung  at  anchor  in  four 
fathom  water. 

A  thousand  questions  to  Flucker. 

A  single  puff  of  tobacco  smoke  was  his  answer. 

And  noAv  crept  up  a  single  eye  of  light  from  Leith  ; 
she  came  among  the  boats ;  the  boys  recognized  a  crazy 
old  cutter  from  Leith  harbor,  Avith  Christie  Johnstone 
on  board. 

"What  is  that  brown  heap  on  her  deck  ?  " 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  115 

"A  mountain  of  nets  —  fifty  stout  herring  nets." 

Tunc  manifesta  fides. 

A  yell  burst  from  all  the  boys. 

''  He's  gaun  to  tak  us  to  Dunbar." 

"  Half  a  croown  !  ye're  no  blate." 

Christie  ordered  the  boats  alongside  her  cutter,  and 
five  nets  were  dropped  into  each  boat,  six  into  Flucker's. 

The  depth  of  water  was  given  them,  and  they  were 
instructed  to  shoot  their  nets  so  as  to  keep  a  fathom  and 
a  half  above  the  rocky  bottom. 

A  herring  net  is  simply  a  wall  of  meshes  twelve  feet 
deep,  fifty  feet  long ;  it  sinks  to  a  vertical  position  by 
the  weight  of  net  twine,  and  is  kept  from  sinking  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  by  bladders  or  corks.  These  nets  are 
tied  to  one  another,  and  paid  out  at  the  stern  of  the  boat. 
Boat  and  nets  drift  with  the  tide ;  if  therefore  the  nets 
touched  the  rocks  they  would  be  torn  to  pieces,  and  the 
fisherman  ruined. 

And  this  saves  the  herring — that  fish  lies  hours  and 
hours  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  sea,  like  a  stone,  and  the 
poor  fisherman  shall  drive  with  his  nets,  a  yard  or  two 
over  a  square  mile  of  fish,  and  not  catch  a  herring  tail ; 
on  the  other  hand,  if  they  rise  to  play  for  five  minutes, 
in  that  five  minutes  they  shall  fill  seven  hundred  boats. 

At  nine  o'clock  all  the  boats  had  shot  their  nets,  and 
Christie  went  alongside  his  lordship's  cutter ;  he  asked 
her  many  questions  about  herring  fishery,  to  which  she 
gave  clear  answers,  derived  from  her  father,  who  had 
always  been  what  the  fishermen  call  a  lucky  fisherman ; 
that  is,  he  had  opened  his  eyes  and  judged  for  himself. 

Lord  Ipsden  then  gave  her  blue  lights  to  distribute 
among  the  boats,  that  the  first  which  caught  herring 
might  signal  all  hands. 

This  was  done,  and  all  was  expectation. 

Eleven  o'clock  came  —  no  signal  from  any  boat. 


116  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

Christie  became  anxious ;  at  last  she  went  round  to 
the  boats  ;  found  the  boys  all  asleep,  except  the  baddish 
boy ;  waked  them  up,  and  made  them  all  haul  in  their 
first  net.  The  nets  came  in  as  black  as  ink,  no  sign  of  a 
herring. 

There  was  but  one  opinion  ;  there  was  no  herring  at 
Inch  Keith ;  they  had  not  been  there  this  seven  years. 

At  last,  Flucker,  to  whom  she  came  in  turn,  told  her 
he  was  going  into  two  fathom  water,  where  he  would  let 
out  the  bladders  and  drop  the  nets  on  their  cursed  backs. 

A  strong  remonstrance  was  made  by  Christie,  but  the 
baddish  boy  insisted  that  he  had  an  equal  right  in  all 
her  nets,  and  setting  his  sail,  he  ran  into  shoal  water. 

Christie  began  to  be  sorrowful :  instead  of  making 
money  she  was  going  to  throw  it  away,  and  the  ne'er-do- 
weel  Flucker  would  tear  six  nets  from  the  ropes. 

Flucker  hauled  down  his  sail,  and  unstepped  his  mast 
in  two  fathom  water ;  but  he  was  not  such  a  fool  as  to 
risk  his  six  nets  ;  he  devoted  one  to  his  experiment,  and 
did  it  well ;  he  let  out  his  bladder  line  a  fathom,  so  that 
one-half  his  net  would  literally  be  higgledy-piggledy 
with  the  rocks,  unless  the  fish  were  there  en  masse. 

Ko  long  time  was  required. 

In  five  minutes  he  began  to  haul  in  the  net ;  first,  the 
boys  hauled  in  the  rope,  and  then  the  net  began  to 
approach  the  surface.  Flucker  looked  anxiously  down, 
the  other  lads  incredulously ;  suddenly  they  all  gave  a 
yell  of  triumph  —  an  appearance  of  silver  and  lightning 
mixed,  had  glanced  up  from  the  bottom ;  in  came  the 
first  two  yards  of  the  net  —  there  were  three  herrings  in 
it.  These  three  proved  Flucker's  point  as  well  as  three 
million. 

They  hauled  in  the  net.  Before  they  had  a  quarter 
of  it  in,  the  net  came  up  to  the  surface,  and  the  sea  was 
alive  with  molten  silver.     The  upper  half  of  the  net 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  117 

was  empty,  but  the  lower  half  was  one  solid  mass  of 
fish. 

The  boys  could  not  find  a  mesh ;  they  had  nothing  to 
handle  but  fish. 

At  this  moment  the  easternmost  boat  showed  a  blue 
light. 

"  The  fish  are  rising,"  said  Flucker,  "  we'll  na  risk  nae 
mair  nets." 

Soon  after  this  a  sort  of  song  was  heard  from  the 
boat  that  had  showed  a  light.  Flucker,  who  had  got  his 
net  in,  ran  down  to  her,  and  found,  as  he  suspected,  that 
the  boys  had  not  power  to  draw  the  weight  of  fish  over 
the  gunwale. 

They  were  singing,  as  sailors  do,  that  they  might  all 
pull  together ;  he  gave  them  two  of  his  crew,  and  ran 
down  to  his  own  skipper. 

The  said  skipper  gave  him  four  men. 

Another  blue  light ! 

Christie  and  her  crew  came  a  little  nearer  the  boats, 
and  shot  twelve  nets. 

The  yachtsmen  entered  the  sport  with  zeal,  so  did  his 
lordship. 

The  boats  were  all  full  in  a  few  minutes,  and  nets 
still  out. 

Then  Flucker  began  to  fear  some  of  these  nets  would 
sink  with  the  weight  of  fish  ;  for  the  herring  die  after 
awhile  in  a  net,  and  a  dead  herring  sinks. 

What  was  to  be  done  ? 

They  got  two  boats  alongside  the  cutter,  and  unloaded 
them  into  her,  as  well  as  they  could ;  but  before  they 
could  half  do  this,  the  other  boats  hailed  them. 

They  came  to  one  of  them  ;  the  boys  were  struggling 
with  a  thing  which  no  stranger  would  have  dreamed  was 
a  net. 

Imagine  a  white  sheet,  fifty  feet  long,  varnished  with 


118  CHEISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

red-hot  silver ;  there  were  twenty  barrels  in  this  single 
net.  By  dint  of  fresh  hands  they  got  half  of  her  in, 
and  then  the  meshes  began  to  break ;  the  men  leaned 
over  the  gunwale,  and  put  their  arms  round  blocks  and 
masses  of  fish,  and  so  flung  them  on  board;  and  the 
cod-fish  and  dog-fish  snapped  them  almost  out  of  the 
men's  hands,  like  tigers. 

At  last  they  came  to  a  net,  which  was  a  double  wall 
of  herring ;  it  had  been  some  time  in  the  water,  and 
many  of  the  fish  were  dead ;  they  tried  their  best,  but 
it  was  impracticable  ;  they  laid  hold  of  the  solid  herring, 
and  when  they  lifted  up  a  hundred-weight  clear  of  the 
water,  away  it  all  tore,  and  sank  back  again. 

They  were  obliged  to  cut  away  this  net,  with  twenty 
pounds  sterling  in  her.  They  cut  away  the  twine  from 
the  head-ropes,  and  net  and  fish  went  to  the  bottom. 

All  hands  were  now  about  the  cutter ;  Christie's  nets 
were  all  strong  and  new.  They  had  been  some  time  in 
the  water;  in  hauling  them  up  her  side,  quantities  of 
fish  fell  out  of  the  net  into  the  water,  but  there  were 
enough  left. 

She  averaged  twelve  barrels  a  net. 

Such  of  the  yawls  as  were  not  quite  full,  crept  between 
the  cutter  and  the  nets,  and  caught  all  they  wanted. 

The  projector  of  this  fortunate  speculation  suddenly 
announced  that  she  was  very  sleepy. 

Fkicker  rolled  her  up  in  a  sail,  and  she  slept  the  sleep 
of  infancy  on  board  her  cutter. 

When  she  awoke  it  was  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  her  cutter  was  creeping  with  a  smart  breeze,  about 
two  miles  an  hour,  a  mile  from  Newhaven  pier. 

The  yacht  had  returned  to  Granton,  and  the  yawls, 
very  low  in  the  water,  were  creeping  along  like  snails, 
with  both  sails  set. 

The  news  was  in  Edinburgh  long  before  they  landed. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  119 

They  had  been  discerned  under  Inch  Keith  at  the 
dawn. 

And  the  manner  of  their  creeping  along,  wlien  there 
was  such  a  breeze,  told  the  tale  at  once  to  the  keen, 
experienced  eyes  that  are  sure  to  be  scanning  the  sea. 

Donkey  carts  came  rattling  down  from  the  capital. 

Merchants  came  pelting  down  to  Newhaven  pier. 

The  whole  story  began  to  be  put  together  by  bits,  and 
comprehended. 

Old  Johnstone's  cleverness  was  recalled  to  mind. 

The  few  fishermen  left  at  Newhaven  were  ready  to 
kill  themselves. 

Their  wives  were  ready  to  do  the  same  good  office  for 
La  Johnstone. 

Four  Irish  merchants  agreed  to  work  together,  and  to 
make  a  show  of  competition,  the  better  to  keep  the  price 
down  within  bounds. 

It  was  hardly  fair,  four  men  against  one  innocent 
unguarded  female. 

But  this  is  a  wicked  world. 

Christie  landed,  and  proceeded  to  her  own  house  ;  on 
the  way  she  was  met  by  Jean  Carnie,  who  debarrassed 
her  of  certain  wrappers,  and  a  handkerchief  she  had 
tied  round  her  head,  and  informed  her  she  was  the  pride 
of  Newhaven. 

She  next  met  these  four  little  merchants,  one  after 
another. 

And  since  we  ought  to  dwell  as  little  as  possible  upon 
scenes  in  which  unguarded  innocence  is  exposed  to  art- 
ful conspiracies,  we  will  put  a  page  or  two  into  the  brute 
form  of  dramatic  dialogue,  and  so  sail  through  it  quicker. 

First  Merchant.     Where  are  ye  going,  Meggie  ? 

Christie  Johnstone.  If  onybody  asks  ye,  say  ye  dinna 
ken. 

First  Merchant.     Will  ye  sell  your  fish  ? 


120  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

Christie.     Suner  than  gie  them. 

First  Merchant.  You  will  be  asking  fifteen  shillin' 
the  cran. 

Christie.     And  ten  to  that. 

First  Merchant.     Good-morning. 

Second  Merchant.  Would  he  not  go  over  fifteen  shil- 
lings ?     Oh,  the  thief  o'  the  world  !     I'll  give  sixteen. 

Third  Merchant.     But  I'll  give  eighteen. 

Second  Merchant.  More  fool  you !  Take  him  up,  my 
girl. 

Christie.     Twenty -five  is  my  price  the  day. 

Third  Merchant.  You  will  keep  them  till  Sunday 
week,  and  sell  their  bones. 

[_Exeunt  the  three  Merchants. 

Enter  Fourth  Merchant. 

Fourth  Merchant.  Are  your  fish  sold  ?  I'll  give  six- 
teen shillings. 

Christie.  I'm  seeking  twenty-five,  an'  I'm  offered 
eighteen. 

Fourth  Merchant.     Take  it.  \^Exit. 

Christie.     They  hae  putten  their  heads  thegither. 

Here  Flucker  came  up  to  her,  and  told  her  there  was 
a  Leith  merchant  looking  for  her.  "  And  Gusty,"  said 
he,  "there's  plenty  wind  getting  up,  your  fish  will  be 
sair  hashed ;  put  them  off  your  hands,  I  rede  ye." 

Christie.  Ay,  lad !  Flucker,  hide,  an'  when  I  play 
my  hand  sae,  ye'll  run  in  an'  cry,  "  Cirsty,  the  Irishman 
will  gie  ye  twenty-two  schellin'  the  cran." 

Flucker.  Ye  ken  mair  tlian's  in  the  catecheesm,  for 
as  releegious  as  ye  are. 

The  Leith  merchant  was  Mr.  Miller,  and  this  is  the 
way  he  worked. 

Miller  (in  a  mellifluous  voice).  Are  ye  no  fatigued, 
my  deear  ? 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  121 

Christie  (affecting  fatigue).     Indeed,  sir,  and  I  am. 

Miller.     Shall  I  have  the  pleasure  to  deal  wi'  ye  ? 

Christie.  If  it's  your  pleasure,  sir.  I'm  seekin'  twenty- 
five  schellin'. 

Miller  (pretending  not  to  hear).  As  you  are  a  beginner, 
I  must  offer  fair;  twenty  schellin'  you  shall  have,  and 
that's  three  shillings  above  Dunbar. 

Christie.  Wad  ye  even  carted  herrin'  with  my  fish 
caller  fra  the  sea  ?  and  Dunbar  —  oh  fine  !  ye  ken  there's 
nae  herrin'  at  Dunbar  the  morn  ;  this  is  the  Dunbar  schule 
that  slipped  westward :  I'm  the  mairket,  ye'll  hae  to  buy 
o'  me  or  gang  to  your  bed —  (Here  she  signalled  to 
Flucker).     I'll  no  be  oot  o'  mine  lang. 

Enter  Flucker  hastily  crying :  "  Cirsty,  the  Irishman 
will  gie  ye  twenty-two  schellin'." 

"  I'll  no  tak  it,"  said  Christie. 

"They  are  keen  to  hae  them,"  said  Flucker;  and 
hastily  retired,  as  if  to  treat  further  with  the  small 
merchants. 

On  this  Mr.  Miller,  pretending  to  make  for  Leith,  said 
carelessly,  "  Twenty -three  shillings,  or  they  are  not  for 
me." 

"  Tak  the  cutter's  freight  at  a  hundre'  cran,  an'  I'm  no 
caring,"  said  Christie. 

"  They  are  mine ! "  said  Mr.  Miller,  very  sharj)ly. 
"  How  much  shall  I  give  you  the  day  ? " 

"  Auchty  pund,  sir,  if  you  please  —  the  lave  when  you 
like  ;  I  ken  ye,  Mr.  Miller." 

Whilst  counting  her  the  notes,  the  purchaser  said  slyly 
to  her : — 

"  There's  more  than  a  hundred  cran  in  the  cutter,  my 
woman." 

"A  little,  sir,"  replied  the  vender;  "but  ere  I  could 
count  them  till  ye  by  baskets,  they  would  lose  seven  or 
eight  cran  in  book,^  your  gain  my  loss." 

'Bulk. 


122  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

"  You  are  a  vara  intelligent  young  person,"  said  Mr. 
]\riller,  gravely. 

^*'Ye  had  measured  them  wi'  your  walking-stick,  sir; 
there's  just  ae  scale  ye  didna  wipe  off,  though  ye  are  a 
carefu'  mon,  Mr.  Miller;  sae  I  laid  the  bait  for  ye  an' 
fine  ye  took  it." 

Miller  took  out  his  snuff-box,  and  tapping  it,  said : 

*'  Will  ye  go  into  partnership  with  me,  my  dear  ?  " 

"Ay,  sir!"  was  the  reply.  "When  I'm  aulder  an' 
ye're  younger." 

At  this  moment  the  four  merchants,  believing  it  use- 
less to  disguise  their  co-operation,  returned  to  see  what 
could  be  done. 

"  We  shall  give  you  a  guinea  a  barrel." 

"  Why,  ye  offered  her  twenty -two  shillings  before." 

"That  we  never  did,  Mr.  Miller." 

"  Haw,  haw  ! "  went  Flucker. 

Christie  looked  down  and  blushed. 

Eyes  met  eyes,  and  without  a  word  spoken  all  was 
comprehended  and  silently  approved.  There  was  no  non- 
sense uttered  about  morality  in  connection  with  dealing. 

Mr.  Miller  took  an  enormous  pinch  of  snuff,  and  drew 
for  the  benefit  of  all  present  the  following  inference : 

MR.    miller's    apophthegm. 

"  Friends  and  neighbors !  when  a  man's  heed  is  gray 
with  age  and  thoucht  (pause)  —  he's  just  fit  to  go  to 
schule  to  a  young  lass  o'  twenty." 

There  was  a  certain  middle-aged  fishwife,  called  Beeny 
Liston,  a  tenant  of  Christie  Johnstone's ;  she  had  not 
paid  her  rent  for  some  time,  and  she  had  not  been 
pressed  for  it ;  whether  this,  or  the  whiskey  she  was  in 
the  habit  of  taking,  rankled  in  her  mind,  certain  it  is 
she  had  always  an  ill  word  for  her  landlady. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  123 

She  now  met  her,  envied  her  success,  and  called  out  in 
a  coarse  tone,  — 

''Oh,  ye're  a  gallant  quean;  ye'U  be  waur  tlian  ever 
the  noo." 

"  What's  wrang,  if  ye  please  ?  "  said  the  Johnstone, 
sharply. 

Reader,  did  you  ever  see  two  fallow  bucks  commence 
a  duel  ? 

They  strut  round,  eight  yards  apart,  tails  up,  look 
carefully  another  way  to  make  the  other  think  it  all 
means  nothing,  and  being  both  equally  sly,  their  horns 
come  together  as  if  by  concert. 

Even  so  commenced  this  duel  of  tongues  between 
these  two  heroines. 

Beeny  Liston,  looking  at  everybody  but  Christie,  ad- 
dressed the  natives  who  were  congregating,  thus :  — 

"  Did  ever  ye  hear  o'  a  decent  lass  taking  the  herrin' 
oot  o'  the  men's  mooths  —  is  yon  a  Vi^oman's  pairt,  I'm 
asking  ye  ?  " 

On  this,  Christie,  looking  carefully  at  all  the  others 
except  Beeny,  inquired  with  an  air  of  simple  curiosity : 

"Can  onybody  tell  me  wha  Liston  Carnie's  drunken 
wife  is  speaking  till  ?  no  to  ony  decent  lass,  though. 
Na!  ye  ken  she  wad  na  hae  th'  impudence  !" 

"  Oh,  ye  ken  fine  I'm  speaking  till  yoursel'." 

Here  the  horns  clashed  together. 

"  To  me,  woman  ?  (With  admirably  acted  surprise.) 
Oo,  ay !  it  will  be  for  the  twa  years'  rent  you're  awm 
me.     Giest  I '' 

Beeny  Liston.  Ye're  just  the  impudentest  girrl  i'  the 
toon,  an'  ye  hae  proved  it  the  day  (her  arms  akimbo). 

Christie  (arms  akimbo).  Me,  impudent  ?  how  daur  ye 
speak  against  my  charackter,  that's  kenned  for  decency 
o'  baith  sides  the  Firrth  ? 

Beeny  (contemptuously).  Oh,  ye're  sly  enough  to 
beguile  the  men,  but  we  ken  ye. 


124  CHKISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

Christie.  I'm  no  sly  —  and  (drawing  near  and  hissing 
the  words)  I'm  no  like  the  woman  Jean  an'  I  saw  in 
Rose  Street,  dead  drunk  on  the  causeway,  while  her  mon 
was  working  for  her  at  sea.  If  ye're  no  ben  your  hoose 
in  ae  minute,  I'll  say  that  will  gar  Liston  Carnie  fling 
ye  ower  the  pier-head,  ye  fool-moothed  drunken  leear  — 
Scairt !  ^ 

If  my  reader  has  seen  and  heard  Mademoiselle  Rachel 
utter  her  famous  Sortez  in  "Virginie,"  he  knows  exactly 
with  what  a  gesture  and  tone  the  Johnstone  uttered  this 
word. 

Beeny  (in  a  voice  of  whining  surprise).  Hech  !  what 
a  spite  Flucker  Johnstone's  dochter  has  taen  against  us. 

Christie.     Scairt ! 

Beeny  (in  a  coaxing  voice,  and  moving  a  step).  Aweel ! 
what's  a'  your  paession,  my  boenny  woman  ? 

Christie.     Scairt ! 

Beeny  retired  before  the  thunder  and  lightning  of 
indignant  virtue. 

Then  all  the  fishboys  struck  up  a  dismal  chant  of 
victory. 

"  Yoo-hoo  —  Custy's  won  the  day  —  Beeny's  &c^\x-tit  " 
(going  up  on  the  last  syllable). 

Christie  moved  slowly  away  towards  her  own  house, 
but  before  she  could  reach  the  door  she  began  to  whimper 
—  little  fool. 

Thereat  chorus  of  young  Athenians  chanted : 

"Yu-hoo!  come  back,  Beeny,  ye'll  maybe  win  yet. 
Custy's  away  gree-^m  "  (going  up  on  the  last  syllable). 

"I'm  no  greetin,  ye  rude  bairns,"  said  Christie,  burst- 
ing into  tears,  and  retiring  as  soon  as  she  had  effected 
that  proof  of  her  philosophy. 

It  was  about  four  hours  later ;  Christie  had  snatched 
some  repose.     The  wind,  as  Flucker  prognosticated,  had 

1  A  local  word;  a  corruption  from  the  French  Sortez. 


CHRISTIE    JOHNSTONE.  125 

grown  to  a  very  heavy  gale,  and  the  Firth  was  brown 
and  boiling. 

Suddenly  a  clamor  was  heard  on  the  shore,  and  soon 
after  a  fishwife  made  her  appearance,  with  rather  a 
singular  burden. 

Her  husband,  ladies  ;  rien  que  cela. 

She  had  him  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck ;  he  was  dos-a- 
dos,  with  his  booted  legs  kicking  in  the  air,  and  his  fists 
making  warlike  but  idle  demonstrations,  and  his  mouth 
uttering  ineffectual  bad  language. 

This  worthy  had  been  called  a  coward  by  Sandy  Liston, 
and  being  about  to  fight  with  him,  and  get  thrashed,  his 
wife  had  whipped  him  up,  and  carried  him  away ;  she 
now  flung  him  down,  at  some  risk  to  his  equilibrium. 

"  Ye  are  not  fit  to  feicht  wi'  Sandy  Liston,"  said  she ; 
"■  if  ye  are  for  feichtin,  here's  for  ye.'' 

As  a  comment  to  this  proposal,  she  tucked  up  the 
sleeves  of  her  short  gown.  He  tried  to  run  by  her ;  she 
caught  him  by  the  bosom,  and  gave  him  a  violent  push, 
that  sent  him  several  paces  backwards ;  he  looked  half 
fierce,  half  astounded ;  ere  he  could  quite  recover  him- 
self, his  little  servant  forced  a  pipe  into  his  hand,  and 
he  smoked  contented  and  peaceable. 

Before  tobacco  the  evil  passions  fall,  they  tell  me. 

The  cause  of  this  quarrel  soon  explained  itself;  up 
came  Sandy  Liston,  cursing  and  swearing. 

"  What !  ye  hae  gotten  till  your  wife's,  that's  the  place 
for  ye ;  to  say  there's  a  brig  in  distress,  and  ye'll  let  her 
go  on  the  rocks  under  your  noses  ;  but  what  are  ye  afraid 
o'  ?  there's  na  danger." 

''  Nae  danger ! "  said  one  of  the  reproached,  "  are  ye 
f  ou  ?  " 

"Ye  are  fou  wi'  fear  yoursel' ;  of  a'  the  beasts  that 
crawl  the  airth,  a  cooward  is  the  ugliest,  I  think." 

"  The  wifes  will  no  let  us,"  said  one,  sulkily. 


126  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

''  It's  the  woman  in  your  hairts  that  keeps  ye,"  roared 
Sandy,  hoarsely.     "  Curse  ye,  ye  are  sure  to  dee  ane  day, 

and  ye  are  sure  to  be !  (a  past  participle)  soon  or 

late,  what  signifies  when  ?  Oh  !  curse  the  hour  ever  I 
was  born  amang  sic  a  cooardly  crew."     (Gun  at  sea.) 

"  Tlxere  ! " 

"  She  speaks  till  ye,  hersel' ;  she  cries  for  maircy ;  to 
think  of  a'  that  hear  ye  cry,  Alexander  Liston  is  the  only 
mon  mon  enough  to  answer."     (Gun.) 

*'You  are  mistaken,  Mr.  Alexander  Liston,"  said  a 
clear,  smart  voice,  whose  owner  had  mingled  unobserved 
with  the  throng ;  ''  there  are  always  men  to  answer  such 
occasions.  Now,  my  lads,  your  boats  have  plenty  of 
beam,  and  well  handled,  should  live  in  any  sea;  who 
volunteers  with  Alexander  Liston  and  me  ?  " 

The  speaker  was  Lord  Ipsden. 

The  fishwives  of  ISTewhaven,  more  accustomed  to  meas- 
ure men  than  poor  little  Lady  Barbara  Sinclair,  saw  in 
this  man  what,  in  point  of  fact  he  was,  a  cool  daring 
devil,  than  whom  none  more  likely  to  lead  men  into 
mortal  danger,  or  pull  them  throiigh  it,  for  that  mat- 
ter. 

They  recognized  their  natural  enemy,  and  collected 
together  against  him,  like  hens  at  the  sight  of  a 
hawk. 

"And  would  you  really  entice  our  men  till  their 
death  ?  " 

"  My  life's  worth  as  much  as  theirs,  I  suppose." 

"  Nae !  your  life  !  it's  na  worth  a  button ;  when  you 
dee  your  next  kin  will  dance,  and  wha'll  greet  ?  but  our 
men  hae  wife  and  bairns  to  look  till."     (Gun  at  sea.) 

"Ah!  I  didn't  look  at  it  in  that  light,"  said  Lord 
Ipsden.  He  then  demanded  paper  and  ink.  Christie 
Johnstone,  who  had  come  out  of  her  house,  supplied  it 
from  her  treasures,  and  this  cool  hand  actually  began  to 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  12? 

convey  a  hundred  and  fifty  tliousand  pounds  away,  upon 
a  sheet  of  paper  blowing  in  tlie  wind;  when  he  had 
named  his  residuary  legatee,  and  disposed  of  certain 
large  bequests,  he  came  to  the  point  — 

"  Christie  Johnstone,  what  can  these  people  live  on  ? 
two  hundred  a  year?  Living  is  cheap  here  —  confound 
the  wind ! " 

''  Twa  hundred  ?     Fifty !  Vile  Count." 

"Don't  call  me  Vile  Count.  I  am  Ipsden,  and  my 
name's  Kichard.  Now,  then,  be  smart  with  your 
names." 

Three  men  stepped  forward,  gave  their  names,  had 
their  widows  provided  for,  and  went  for  their  sou'- 
westers,  etc. 

"  Stay,"  said  Lord  Ipsden,  writing.  "  To  Christina 
Johnstone,  out  of  respect  for  her  character,  one  thou- 
sand pounds." 

"  Richard,  dinna  gang,"  cried  Christie,  "  oh  I  dinna 
gang,  dinna  gang,  dinna  gang ;  it's  no  your  business." 

"Will  you  lend  me  your  papa's  Flushing  jacket  and 
sou'wester,  ray  dear  ?  If  I  was  sure  to  be  drowned,  I'd 
go." 

Christie  ran  in  for  them. 

In  the  mean  time,  discomposed  by  the  wind,  and  by 
feelings  whose  existence  neither  he  nor  I  nor  any  one 
suspected,  Saunders,  after  a  sore  struggle  between  the 
frail  man  and  the  perfect  domestic,  blurted  out,  — 

"  My  lord,  I  beg  your  lordship's  pardon,  but  it  blows 
tempestuous." 

"  That  is  why  the  brig  wants  us,"  was  the  reply. 

"  My  lord,  I  beg  your  lordship's  jjardou,"  whimpered 
Saunders.  "  But  oh !  my  lord,  don't  go  ;  it's  all  very 
well  for  fishermen  to  be  drowned ;  it  is  their  business, 
but  not  yours,  my  lord." 

"  Saunders,  help  me  on  with  this  coat." 


128  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

Christie  had  brought  it. 

"Yes,  my  lord,"  said  Saunders,  briskly,  his  second 
nature  reviving. 

His  lordship,  whilst  putting  on  the  coat  and  hat,  under- 
took to  cool  Mr.  Saunders's  aristocratic  prejudices. 

"  Should  Alexander  Liston  and  I  be  drowned,"  said 
he,  coolly,  "when  our  bones  come  ashore,  you  will  not 
know  which  are  tlie  fisherman's  and  which  the  vis- 
count's."    So  saying,  he  joined  the  enterprise. 

"  I  shall  pray  for  ye,  lad,''  said  Christie  Johnstone,  and 
she  retired  for  that  purpose. 

Saunders,  with  a  heavy  heart,  to  the  nearest  tavern,  to 
prepare  an  account  of  what  he  called  "  Heroism  in  High 
Life,"  large  letters,  and  the  usual  signs  of  great  aston- 
ishment !!!!!!  for  the  "  Polytechnic  Magazine." 

The  commander  of  the  distressed  vessel  had  been 
penny-wise.  He  had  declined  a  pilot  off  the  Isle  of 
May,  trusting  to  fall  in  with  one  close  to  the  port  of 
Leith ;  but  a  heavy  gale  and  fog  had  come  on ;  he  knew 
himself  in  the  vicinity  of  dangerous  rocks  ;  and,  to  make 
matters  worse,  his  ship,  old  and  sore  battered  by  a  long 
and  stormy  voyage,  was  leaky ;  and  unless  a  pilot  came 
alongside,  his  fate  would  be,  either  to  founder,  or  run 
upon  the  rocks,  where  he  must  expect  to  go  to  pieces  in 
a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

The  Newhaven  boat  lay  in  comparatively  smooth  water, 
on  the  lee  side  of  the  pier. 

Our  adventurers  got  into  her,  stepped  the  mast,  set  a 
small  sail,  and  ran  out.  Sandy  Liston  held  the  sheet, 
passed  once  round  the  belaying-pin,  and  whenever  a 
larger  wave  than  usual  came  at  them,  he  slacked  the 
sheet,  and  the  boat  losing  her  way,  rose  gently,  like  a 
cork,  upon  seas  that  had  seemed  about  to  swallow  her. 

But  seen  from  the  shore  it  was  enough  to  make  the 
most  experienced  wince ;  so  completely  was  this  wooden 


CHRISTIE    JOHNSTONE.  129 

shell  lost  to  sight,  as  she  descended  from  a  wave,  that 
each  time  her  reappearance  seemed  a  return  from  the 
dead. 

The  weather  was  misty  ;  the  boat  was  soon  lost  sight 
of :  the  story  remains  ashore. 


130     -  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER  XIV, 

It  was  an  hour  later ;  the  natives  of  the  New  Town 
had  left  the  pier,  and  were  about  their  own  doors,  when 
three  Buckhaven  fishermen  came  slowly  up  from  the 
pier;  these  men  had  arrived  in  one  of  their  large  fishing- 
boats  which  defy  all  weather. 

The  men  came  slowly  up ;  their  petticoat  trousers  were 
drenched,  and  their  neck-handkerchiefs  and  hair  were 
wet  with  spray. 

At  the  foot  of  the  New  Town  they  stood  still  and 
whispered  to  each  other. 

There  was  something  about  these  men  that  drew  the 
e^^e  of  Newhaven  upon  them. 

In  the  first  place,  a  Buckhaven  man  rarely  communi- 
cates with  natives  of  Newhaven,  except  at  the  pier, 
where  he  brings  in  his  cod  and  ling  from  the  deep  sea ; 
flings  them  out  like  stones,  and  sells  them  to  the  fish- 
wives ;  then  up  sail  and  away  for  Fifeshire. 

But  these  men  evidently  came  ashore  to  speak  to  some 
one  in  the  town. 

They  whispered  together;  something  appeared  to  be 
proposed  and  demurred  to ;  but  at  last  two  went  slowly 
back  towards  the  pier,  and  the  eldest  remained,  with  a 
fisherman's  long  mackintosh  coat  in  his  hand,  which  the 
others  Imd  given  him  as  they  left  him. 

With  this  in  his  hand,  the  Buckhaven  fisherman  stood 
in  an  irresolute  posture  ;  he  looked  down,  and  seemed  to 
ask  himself  what  course  he  should  take. 

''What's  wrang?"  said  Jean  Carnie,  who,  with  her 
neighbors,  had  observed  the  men.  "I  wish  yon  man 
may  na  hae  ill  news."  . 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  131 

"  What  ill  news  wad  he  hae  ?  "  replied  another. 

"  Are  ony  freends  of  Liston  Carnie  here  ?  "  said  the 
fisherman. 

"  The  wife's  awa'  to  Granton,  Beeny  Liston  they  ca' 
her  —  there's  his  house,"  added  Jean,  pointing  up  the  row. 

"Ay,"  said  the  fisherman,  "I  ken  he  lived  there." 

"  Lived  there  !  "  cried  Christie  Johnstone  ;  "  oh  !  what's 
this  ?  " 

"  Freends,"  said  the  man,  gravely,  "  his  boat  is  driving 
keel  uppermost  in  Kircauldy  Bay ;  we  passed  her  near 
enough  to  read  the  name  upon  her." 

"  But  the  men  will  have  won  to  shore,  please  God  ?  " 

The  fisherman  shook  his  head. 

"  She'll  hae  coupit  a  mile  wast  Inch  Keith,  an'  the 
tide  rinning  aff  the  island  an'  a  heavy  sea  gaun.  This  is 
a'  Newhaven  we'll  see  of  them  (holding  up  the  coat) 
till  they  rise  to  the  top  in  three  weeks'  time." 

The  man  then  took  the  coat,  which  was  now  seen  to 
be  drenched  with  water,  and  hung  it  up  on  a  line  not 
very  far  from  its  unfortunate  owner's  house  ;  then,  in  the 
same  grave  and  subdued  tone  in  which  he  had  spoken  all 
along,  he  said,  "  We  are  sorry  to  bring  siccan  a  tale  into 
your  toon,"  and  slowly  moved  off  to  rejoin  his  comrades, 
who  had  waited  for  him  at  no  great  distance.  They  then 
passed  through  the  Old  Town,  and  in  five  minutes  the 
calamity  was  known  to  the  whole  place. 

After  the  first  stupor,  the  people  in  the  New  Town 
collected  into  knots,  and  lamented  their  hazardous  call- 
ing, and  feared  for  the  lives  of  those  that  had  just  put  to 
sea  in  this  fatal  gale  for  the  rescue  of  strangers,  and  the 
older  ones  failed  not  to  match  this  present  sorrow  with 
others  within  their  recollection. 

In  the  middle  of  this,  Flucker  Johnstone  came  hastily 
in  from  the  Old  Town,  and  told  them  he  had  seen  the 
wife.  Beeny  Liston,  coming  through  from  Granton. 


132  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

The  sympathy  of  all  was  instantly  turned  in  this 
direction. 

"  She  would  hear  the  news." 

"  It  would  fall  on  her  like  a  thunder-clap." 

"  What  would  become  of  her  ?  " 

Every  eye  was  strained  towards  the  Old  Town,  and 
soon  the  poor  woman  was  seen  about  to  emerge  from  it ; 
but  she  was  walking  in  her  usual  way,  and  they  felt  she 
could  not  carry  her  person  so  if  she  knew. 

At  the  last  house  she  was  seen  to  stop-  and  speak  to  a 
fisherman  and  his  wife  that  stood  at  their  own  door. 

"  They  are  telling  her,"  was  then  the  cry. 

Beeny  Liston  then  proceeded  on  her  way. 

Every  eye  was  strained. 

No,  they  had  not  told  her. 

She  came  gayly  on,  the  unconscious  object  of  every 
eye  and  every  heart. 

The  hands  of  this  people  were  hard,  and  their  tongues 
rude,  but  they  had  shrunk  from  telling  this  poor  woman 
of  her  bereavement ;  they  thought  it  kinder  she  should 
know  it  under  her  own  roof  from  her  friends  or  neigh- 
bors, than  from  comparative  strangers. 

She  drew  near  her  own  door. 

And  now  a  knot  collected  round  Christie  Johnstone, 
and  urged  her  to  undertake  the  sad  task. 

"You  that  speak  sa  learned,  Christie,  ye  should  tell 
her ;  we  daur  na." 

''  How  can  I  tell  her  ?  "  said  Christie,  turning  pale. 
"How  will  I  tell  her  ?     Ise  try." 

She  took  one  trembling  step  to  meet  the  woman. 

Beeny's  eye  fell  upon  her. 

"  Ay !  here's  the  Queen  o'  Newhaven,"  cried  she,  in  a 
loud  and  rather  coarse  voice.  "The  men  will  hae  ta 
leave  the  place  now  y'are  turned  fisherman,  I  daur  say." 

"  Oh,  dinna  fleicht  on  me  !  dinna  fleicht  on  me  ! "  cried 
Christie,  trembling. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  133 

"Maircy  on  us,"  said  the  other,  "auld  Flucker  John- 
stone's dochter  turned  humble.     What  next  ?  " 

"I'm  vexed  for  speaking  back  till  ye  the  morn," 
faltered  Christie. 

"  Hett,"  said  the  woman,  carelessly,  "  let  yon  flea  stick 
i'  the  wa'.  I  fancy  I  began  on  ye.  Aweel,  Cirsty,"  said 
she,  falling  into  a  friendlier  tone,  *'  it's  the  place  we  live 
in  spoils  us  ;  Newhaven's  an  impudent  toon,  as  sure  as 
deeth. 

"  I  passed  through  the  Auld  Toon  the  noo,  a  place  I 
never  speak  in ;  an'  if  they  did  na  glower  at  me  as  I  had 
been  a  strange  beast. 

"  They  cam'  to  their  very  doors  to  glower  at  me ;  if 
ye'll  believe  me,  I  thoucht  shame. 

"  At  the  hinder  end  my  paassion  got  up,  and  I  faced  a 
wife  East-by,  and  I  said,  'What  gars  ye  glower  at  me 
that  way,  ye  ignorant  woman?'  Ye  would  na  think  it, 
she  answered  like  honey  itsel'  —  '  I'm  askin'  your  paar- 
don,'  says  she ;  and  her  mon  by  her  side  said,  '  Gang 
hame  to  your  ain  hoose,  my  woman,  and  Gude  help  ye, 
and  help  us  a'  at  our  need,'  the  decent  mon.  '  It's  just 
there  I'm  for,'  said  I,  '  to  get  my  mon  his  breakfast.' " 

All  who  heard  her  drew  their  breath  with  difficulty. 

The  woman  then  made  for  her  own  house,  but  in  going 
up  the  street  she  passed  the  wet  coat  hanging  on  the 
line. 

She  stopped  directly. 

They  all  trembled  —  they  had  forgotten  the  coat  —  it 
was  all  over ;  the  coat  would  tell  the  tale. 

"  Aweel,"  said  she,  "  I  could  sweer  that's  Listen 
Carnie's  coat,  a  droukit  wi'  the  rain ; "  then  she  looked 
again  at  it,  and  added,  slowly,  "if  I  did  na  ken  he  has 
his  away  wi'  him  at  the  piloting."  And  in  another 
moment  she  was  in  her  own  house,  leaving  them  all 
standing  there  half  stupefied. 


134  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

Christie  had  indeed  endeavored  to  speak,  but  her 
tongue  had  cloven  to  her  mouth. 

Whilst  they  stood  looking  at  one  another,  and  at 
Beeny  Liston's  door,  a  voice  that  seemed  incredibly 
rough,  loud,  and  harsh,  jarred  upon  them ;  it  was  Sandy 
Liston,  who  came  in  from  Leith,  shouting,  — 

"  Fifty  pounds  for  salvage,  lasses  !  is  na  thaat  better 
than  staying  cooard-like  aside  the  women  ?  " 

"Whisht !  whisht !"  cried  Christie.  "We  are  in  heavy 
sorrow ;  puir  Liston  Cairnie  and  his  sou  Willy  lie  deed 
at  the  bottom  o'  the  Firrth." 

"  Gude  help  us  ! "  said  Sandy,  and  his  voice  sank. 

"  An',  0  Sandy  !  the  wife  does  na  ken,  and  it's  hairt- 
breaking  to  see  her  and  hear  her ;  we  canna  get  her 
tell't ;  ye're  the  auldest  mou  here  ;  ye'll  tell  her,  will  ye 
no,  Sandy  ?  " 

"  No,  me,  that  I  will  not ! " 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  ye  are  kenned  for  your  stoot  heart  an' 
coorage ;  ye  come  fra'  facing  the  sea  an'  wind  in  a  bit 
yawl." 

"  The  sea  and  the  wind,"  cried  he,  contemptuously  ; 

"  they  be ;  I'm  used  wi'  them  ;  but  to  look  a  woman 

i'  the  face,  an'  tell  her  her  mon  and  her  son  are  drowned 
since  yestreen,  I  hae  na  coorage  for  that." 

All  further  debate  was  cut  short  by  the  entrance  of  one 
who  came  expressly  to  discharge  the  sad  duty  all  had 
found  so  difficult.  It  was  the  Presbyterian  clergyman  of 
the  place  ;  he  waved  them  back.  "  I  know,  I  know,"  said 
he,  solemnly. 

"  Where  is  the  wife  ?  " 

She  came  out  of  her  house  at  this  moment,  as  it 
happened,  to  purchase  something  at  Drysale's  shop, 
which  was  opposite. 

"Beeny,"  said  the  clergyman,  "I  have  sorrowful 
tidings." 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  135 

"Tell  me  them,  sir,"  said  slie,  unmoved.  "Is  it  a 
deeth  ?  "  added  she,  quietly. 

"  It  is  !  —  death,  sudden  and  terrible  ;  in  your  own 
house  I  must  tell  it  you  (and  may  God  show  me  how 
to  break  it  to  her)." 

He  entered  her  house. 

"  Aweel,"  said  the  woman  to  the  others,  "  it  maun  be 
some  far  awa  cousin,  or  the_like  ;  for  Liston  an'  me  hae 
nae  near  freends.  Meg,  ye  idle  hizzy,"  screamed  she  to 
her  servant,  who  was  one  of  the  spectators,  "your  pat  is 
no  on  yet ;  div  ye  think  the  men  w^ill  no  be  hungry  when 
they  come  in  fra  the  sea  ?  " 

"They  will  never  hunger  nor  thirst  ony  mair,"  said 
Jean,  solemnly,  as  the  bereaved  woman  entered  her  own 
door. 

There  ensued  a  listless  and  fearful  silence. 

Every  moment  some  sign  of  bitter  sorrow  was  expected 
to  break  forth  from  the  house,  but  none  came  ;  and  amidst 
the  expectation  and  silence  the  waves  dashed  louder  and 
louder,  as  it  seemed,  against  the  dyke,  conscious  of  what 
they  had  done. 

At  last,  in  a  moment,  a  cry  of  agony  arose,  so  terrible 
that  all  who  heard  it  trembled,  and  more  than  jane  woman 
shrieked  in  return,  and  fled  from  the  door  ;  at  which,  the 
next  moment,  the  clergyman  stood  alone,  collected,  but 
pale,  and  beckoned.     Several  women  advanced. 

"  One  woman,"  said  he. 

Jean  Carnie  was  admitted,  and  after  awhile  returned. 

"She  is  come  to  hersel',"  whispered  she;  "lam  no 
weel  mysel'."     And  she  passed  into  her  own  house. 

Then  Flucker  crept  to  the  door  to  see. 

"  Oh,  dinna  spie  on  her  ! "  cried  Christie. 

"  Oh,  yes,  Plucker,"  said  many  voices. 

"  He  is  kneelin',"  said  Flucker.  "  He  has  her  hand  to 
gar  her  kneel  tae,  —  she  winna,  —  she  does  na  see  him 


136  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

nor  hear  him  ;  he  will  hae  her.  He  has  won  her  to 
kneel,  —  he  is  prayin'  an'  greetin'  aside  her.  I  canna  see 
noo  ;  my  een's  blinded." 

"  He's  a  gude  men,"  said  Christie.  "  Oh,  what  wad  we 
do  without  the  ministers  ?  " 

Sandy  Listen  had  been  leaning  sorrowfully  against  the 
wall  of  the  next  house  ;  he  now  broke  out. 

"  An  auld  shipmate  at  the  whale  fishing  !  An'  noow 
we'll  never  lift  the  dredging  sang  thegither  again  in  yon 
dirty  detch  that's  droowned  him  ;  I  maun  hae  whiskey, 
an'  forget  it  a'." 

He  made  for  the  spirit-shop  like  a  madman,  but  ere  he 
could  reach  the  door  a  hand  was  laid  on  him  like  a  vise. 
Christie  Johnstone  had  literally  sprung  on  him.  She 
hated  this  horrible  vice,  —  had  often  checked  him;  and 
now  it  seemed  so  awful  a  moment  for  such  a  sin,  that 
she  forgot  the  wild  and  savage  nature  of  the  man,  who 
had  struck  his  own  sister,  and  seriously  hurt  her,  but  a 
month  before,  —  she  saw  nothing  but  the  vice  and  its 
victim,  and  she  seized  him  by  the  collar,  with  a  grasp 
from  which  he  in  vain  attempted  to  shake  himself 
loose. 

"  No  !  ye'll  no  gang  there  at  siccan  a  time." 

"Hands  off,  ye  daft  jaud,"  roared  he,  "or  there'll  be 
another  deeth  i'  the  toon." 

At  the  noise,  Jean  Carnie  ran  in. 

"  Let  the  ruffian  go  ! "  cried  she,  in  dismay.  "  0 
Christie  !   dinna  pht  your  hand  on  a  lion's  mane." 

"  Yes,  I'll  put  my  hand  on  his  mane,  ere  I'll  let  him 
mak  a  beast  o'  himsel'." 

"  Sandy,  if  ye  hurt  her,  I'll  find  twenty  lads  that  will 
lay  ye  deed  at  her  feet." 

"  Hand  your  whisht,"  said  Christie,  very  sharply,  "  he's 
no  to  be  threetened." 

Sandy  Liston,  black  and  white  with  rage,  ground  his 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  137 

teeth  together,  and  said,  lifting  his  hand,  "  Wull  ye  let 
me  go,  or  must  T  tak  my  hand  till  ye  ?  " 

"No  ! "  said  Christie,  "  I'll  no  let  ye  go,  sae  look  me  V 
the  face  ;  Flucker''s  dochtev,  your  auld  comrade,  that  saved 
your  life  at  Holy  Isle,  —  think  o'  his  face,  —  aw'  look  in 
mines,  —  a?i'  strike  me  !  " 

They  glared  on  one  another,  —  he  fiercely  and  un- 
steadily ;  she  firmly  and  proudly. 

Jean  Carnie  said  afterwards,  "  her  eyes  were  like  coals 
of  fire." 

"  Ye  are  doing  what  nae  mon  i'  the  toon  daur ;  ye  are 
a  bauld,  unwise  lassy." 

"  It's  you  mak  me  bauld,"  was  the  instant  reply.  "  I 
saw  ye  face  the  mad  sea  to  save  a  ship  fra  the  rocks,  an' 
will  I  fear  a  men's  hand,  when  I  can  save  (rising  to 
double  her  height)  my  feyther's  auld  freend  fra  the 
puir  men's  enemy,  the  enemy  o'  mankind,  the  cursed, 
cursed  drink.  0  Sandy  Listen  !  hoow  could  ye  think  to 
put  an  enemy  in  your  mooth  to  steal  awa  your  brains  ! " 

"  This's  no  Newhaven  chat ;  wha  lairns  ye  sic  words  o' 
power  ?  " 

"A  deed  mon  !  " 

"I  would  na  wonder,  y'are  no  canny;  she's  ta'en  a' 
the  poower  oot  o'  my  body,  I  think."  Then  suddenly 
descending  to  a  tone  of  abject  submission,  "  What's  your 
pleesure.  Mucker  Johnstone's  dochter  ?  " 

She  instantly  withdrew  the  offensive  grasp,  and  leaning 
affectionately  on  his  shoulder,  she  melted  into  her  rich 
Ionic  tones. 

"  It's  no  a  time  for  sin  :  ye'll  sit  by  my  fire,  an'  get 
your  dinner  ;  a  bonny  haggis  hae  I  for  you  an'  Flucker, 
an'  we'll  improve  this  sorrowfu'  judgment ;  an'  ye'll  tell 
me  o'  auld  times  ;  o'  my  feyther  deai-,  that  likeit  ye  weel, 
Sandy,  —  o'  the  storrms  ye  hae  weathered  side  by  side, 
—  o'  the  muckle  whales  ye  killed  Greenland  way,  —  an' 


138  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

abune  a',  o'  the  lives  ye  liae  saved  at  sea  by  your  daurin 
an'  your  skell ;  an',  0  Sandy  !  will  na  that  be  better  as 
sit  an'  poor  leequid  damnation  doown  your  throat,  an'  gie 
awa  the  sense  an'  feeling  o'  a  mon  for  a  sair  heed  and  an 
ill  name  ?  " 

"I'se  gang,  my  lamb,"  said  the  rough  man,  quite 
subdued ;  "  I  daur  say  whiskey  will  no  pass  my  teeth 
the  day." 

And  so  he  went  quietly  away,  and  sat  by  Christie's 
fireside. 

Jean  and  Christie  went  towards  the  boats. 

Jean,  after  taking  it  philosophically  for  half  a  minute, 
began  to  whimper. 

"  What's  wrang  ?  "  said  Christie. 

''Div  ye  think  my  hairt's  no  in  my  mooth  wi'  you 
gripping  yon  fierce  robber  ?  " 

Here  a  young  fishwife,  with  a  box  in  her  hand,  who 
had  followed  them,  pulled  Jean  by  the  coats. 

•'Hets,"  said  Jean,  pulling  herself  free. 

The  child  then,  with  a  pertinacity  these  little  animals 
have,  pulled  Christie's  coats. 

*'  Hets,"  said  Christie,  freeing  herself  more  gently. 

"  Ye  suld  mairry  Van  Amburgh,"  continued  Jean  ;  "ye 
are  just  such  a  lass  as  he  is  a  lad." 

Christie  smiled  proudly,  was  silent,  but  did  not  disown 
the  comparison. 

The  little  fishwife,  unable  to  attract  attention  by  pull- 
ing, opened  her  box,  and  saying,  "  Lasses,  I'll  let  ye  see 
my  presoner :  hech  !  he's  boenny  ! "  pulled  out  a  mouse 
by  a  string  fastened  to  his  tail,  and  set  him  in  the  midst 
for  friendly  admiration. 

"■  I  dinna  like  it,  I  dinna  like  it!  "  screamed  Christie. 
"Jean,  put  it  away:  it  fears  me,  Jean!"  This  she 
uttered  (her  eyes  almost  starting  from  her  head  with 
unaffected  terror)  at  the  distance  of  about  eight  yards, 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  139 

whither  she  had  arrived  in  two  bounds  that  would  have 
done  no  discredit  to  an  antelope. 

"Het,"  said  Jean  uneasily,  "hae  ye  coo  wed  yon  sav- 
age, to  be  scared  at  the  wee  beastie  ?  " 

Christie,  looking  askant  at  the  animal,  explained,  "A 
moose  is  an  awesome  beast ;  it's  no  like  a  mon ;  "  and 
still  her  eye  was  fix:ed  by  fascination  upon  the  four- 
footed  danger. 

Jean,  who  had  not  been  herself  in  genuine  tranquillity, 
now  turned  savagely  on  the  little  Wombwelless  :  "  An' 
div  ye  really  think  ye  are  to  come  here  wi'  a'  the  beasts 
i'  the  Airk  ?     Come,  awa  ye  go,  the  pair  o'  ye." 

These  severe  words,  and  a  smart  push,  sent  the  poor 
little  biped  off  roaring,  with  the  string  over  her  shoul- 
der, recklessly  dragging  the  terrific  quadruped,  which 
made  fruitless  grabs  at  the  shingle.  —  Moral.  Don't  ter- 
rify bigger  folk  than  yourself. 

Christie  had  intended  to  go  up  to  Edinburgh  with  her 
eighty  pounds,  but  there  was  more  trouble  in  store  this 
eventful  day. 

Flucker  went  out  after  dinner,  and  left  her  with 
Sandy  Liston,  who  was  in  the  middle  of  a  yarn,  when 
some  one  came  running  in  and  told  her  Flucker  was  at 
the  pier  crying  for  her.  She  inquired  what  was  the 
matter.  "  Come  an'  ye'll  see,"  was  all  the  answer.  She 
ran  down  to  the  pier.  There  was  poor  Flucker  lying  on 
his  back :  he  had  slipped  from  the  pier  into  a  boat  that 
lay  alongside.  The  fall  was  considerable :  for  a  minute 
he  had  been  insensible,  then  he  had  been  dreadfully  sick, 
and  now  he  was  beginning  to  feel  his  hurt ;  he  was  in 
great  anguish ;  nobody  knew  the  extent  of  his  injuries ; 
he  would  let  nobody  touch  him ;  all  his  cry  was  for  his 
sister.  At  last  she  came :  they  all  made  way  for  her  ; 
he  was  crying  for  her  as  she  came  up. 

"  My  bairn  !  my  bairn  ! "  cried  she  ;  and  the  poor  lit- 


140  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

tie  fellow  smiled,  and  tried  to  raise  himself  towards 
her. 

She  lifted  him  gently  in  her  arms  ;  she  was  powerful, 
and  affection  made  her  stronger.  She  carried  him  in  her 
arms  all  the  way  home,  and  laid  him  on  her  own  bed. 
Willy  Liston,  her  discarded  suitor,  ran  for  the  surgeon. 
There  were  no  bones  broken,  but  his  ankle  was  severely 
sprained,  and  he  had  a  terrible  bruise  on  the  loins.  His 
dark,  ruddy  face  was  streaked  and  pale,  but  he  never 
complained  after  he  found  himself  at  home. 

Christie  hovered  round  him,  a  ministering  angel, 
applying  to  him  with  a  light  and  loving  hand  whatever 
could  ease  his  pain ;  and  he  watched  her  with  an  expres- 
sion she  had  never  noticed  in  his  eye  before. 

At  last,  after  two  hours'  silence,  he  made  her  sit  in 
full  view,  and  then  he  spoke  to  her ;  and  what  think  you 
was  the  subject  of  his  discourse  ? 

He  turned  to  and  told  her,  one  after  another,  without 
preface,  all  the  loving  things  she  had  done  to  him  ever 
since  he  was  five  years  old.  Poor  boy  !  he  had  never 
shown  much  gratitude,  but  he  had  forgotten  nothing, 
literally  nothing. 

Christie  was  quite  overcome  with  this  unexpected 
trait :  she  drew  him  gently  to  her  bosom,  and  wept  over 
him  ;  and  it  was  sweet  to  see  a  brother  and  sister  treat 
each  other  almost  like  lovers,  as  these  two  began  to  do 
—  they  watched  each  other's  eye  so  tenderly. 

This  new  care  kept  the  sister  in  her  own  house  all  the 
next  day ;  but  towards  the  evening,  Jean,  who  knew  her 
other  anxiety,  slipped  in  and  offered  to  take  her  place 
for  an  hour  by  Flucker's  side.  At  the  same  time  she 
looked  one  of  those  signals  which  are  too  subtle  for  any 
but  woman  to  understand. 

Christie  drew  her  aside,  and  learned  that  Gatty  and 
his  mother  were  just  coming  through  from  Leith.    Chris- 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  141 

tie  ran  for  her  eighty  pounds,  placed  them  in  her  bosom, 
cast  a  hasty  glance  at  a  looking-glass,  little  larger  than 
an  oyster-shell,  and  ran  out. 

"  Hech !  What  pleased  the  auld  wife  will  be  to  see 
he  has  a  lass  that  can  mak  auchty  pund  in  a  morning." 

This  was  Christie's  notion. 

At  sight  of  them  she  took  out  the  bank-notes,  and 
with  eyes  glistening  and  cheeks  flushing,  she  cried,  — 

"0  Chairles,  ye'U  no  gang  to  jail:  I  hae  the  siller !  " 
and  she  offered  him  the  money  with  both  hands,  and  a 
look  of  tenderness  and  modesty  that  embellished  human 
nature. 

Ere  he  could  speak,  his  mother  put  out  her  hand,  and 
not  rudely,  but  very  coldly,  repelling  Christie's  arm, 
said  in  a  freezing  manner,  — 

"  We  are  much  obliged  to  you,  but  my  son's  own 
talents  have  rescued  him  from  his  little  embarrassment." 

"A  nobleman  has  bought  my  picture,"  said  Gatty 
proudly. 

"  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,"  said  the  old  lady, 
meaning  to  mark  the  contrast  between  that  sum  and 
what  Christie  had  in  her  hand. 

Christie  remained  like  a  statue,  with  her  arms  extended 
and  the  bank-notes  in  her  hand ;  her  features  worked : 
she  had  much  ado  not  to  cry ;  and  any  one  that  had 
known  the  whole  story,  and  seen  this  unmerited  repulse, 
would  have  felt  for  her ;  but  her  love  came  to  her  aid ; 
she  put  the  notes  in  her  bosom,  sighed  and  said,  — 

"  I  would  hae  likeit  to  hae  been  the  first,  ye  ken,  but 
I'm  real  pleased." 

"But,  mother,"  said  Gatty,  ''it  was  very  kind  of 
Christie  all  the  same.  0  Christie  ! "  said  he  in  a  tone  of 
despair. 

At  this  kind  word  Christie's  fortitude  was  sore  tried  ; 
she  turned  away  her  head.     She  was  far  too  delicate  to 


142  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

let  them  know  who  had  sent  Lord  Ipsdeii  to  buy  the 
picture. 

Whilst  she  turned  away,  Mrs.  Gatty  said  in  her  son's 
ear, — 

"Now  I  have  your  solemn  promise  to  do  it  here,  and 
at  once :  you  will  find  me  on  the  beach  behind  these 
boats :  do  it." 

The  reader  will  understand  that  during  the  last  few 
days  Mrs.  Gatty  had  improved  her  advantage,  and  that 
Charles  had  positively  consented  to  obey  her.  The  poor 
boy  was  worn  out  with  the  struggle :  he  felt  he  must 
have  peace  or  die.  He  was  thin  and  pale,  and  sudden 
twitches  came  over  him  :  his  temperament  was  not  fit  for 
such  a  battle ;  and  it  is  to  be  observed  nearly  all  the  talk 
was  on  one  side.  He  had  made  one  expiring  struggle : 
he  described  to  his  mother  an  artist's  nature,  his  strength, 
his  weakness  :  he  besought  her  not  to  be  a  slave  to  gen- 
eral rules,  but  to  inquire  what  sort  of  a  companion  the 
individual  Gatty  needed :  he  lashed  with  true  but  bril- 
liant satire  the  sort  of  wife  his  mother  was  ready  to  see 
him  saddled  with,  —  a  stupid,  unsympathizing  creature, 
whose  ten  children  would,  by  nature's  law,  be  also  stu- 
pid, and  so  be  a  weight  on  him  till  his  dying  day.  He 
painted  Christie  Johnstone,  mind  and  body,  in  Avords  as 
true  and  bright  as  his  colors  :  he  showed  his  own  weak 
points,  her  strong  ones,  and  how  the  latter  would  fortify 
the  former. 

He  displayed,  in  short,  in  one  minute  more  intellect 
than  his  mother  had  exhibited  in  sixty  years  ;  and  that 
done,  with  all  his  understanding,  wit,  and  eloquence,  he 
succumbed  like  a  child  to  her  stronger  will :  he  prom- 
ised to  break  with  Christie  Johnstone. 

When  Christie  had  recovered  her  composure  and 
turned  round  to  her  companions,  she  found  herself  alone 
with  Charles. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  143 

"  Chairles,"  said  she  gravely. 

"  Christie,"  said  he  uneasily. 

''■  Your  mother  does  na  like  me.  Oh  !  ye  need  na  deny 
it;  and  we  are  na  together  as  Ave  used  to  be,  my  lad." 

"  She  is  prejudiced,  but  she  has  been  the  best  of 
mothers  to  me,  Christie." 

"AweeL" 

"  Circumstances  compel  me  to  return  to  England." 

(Ah,  coward !  anything  but  the  real  truth  ! ) 

"  Aweel,  Chairles,  it  will  not  be  for  lang." 

''  I  don't  know ;  you  will  not  be  so  unhappy  as  I  shall 
—  at  least  I  hope  not." 

''  Hoow  do  ye  ken  that  ?  " 

"  Christie,  do  you  remember  the  first  night  we  danced 
together  ?  " 

"Ay." 

"  And  we  walked  in  the  cool  by  the  seaside,  and  I  told 
you  the  names  of  the  stars,  and  you  said  those  were  not 
their  real  names,  but  nicknames  we  give  them  here  on 
earth.     I  loved  you  that  first  night." 

"  And  I  fancied  you  the  first  time  I  set  eyes  on  you." 

"  How  can  I  leave  you,  Christie  ?     What  shall  I  do  ?  " 

"  I  ken  what  I  shall  do,"  answered  Christie,  coolly ; 
then  bursting  into  tears  she  added,  "  I  shall  dee  !  I  shall 
dee ! " 

"  No  !  you  must  not  say  so ;  at  least  I  will  never  love 
any  one  but  you." 

"  An'  I'll  live  as  I  am  a'  my  days  for  your  sake.  0 
England !  I  hae  likeit  ye  sae  weel,  ye  suld  na  rob  me  o' 
my  lad  —  he's  a'  the  joy  I  hae  !  " 

"  I  love  you,"  said  Gatty.     "  Do  you  love  me  ?  " 

All  the  answer  was,  her  head  upon  his  shoulder. 

"  I  can't  do  it,"  thought  Gatty,  "  and  I  won't !  Christie," 
said  he,  "stay  here,  don't  move  from  here."  And  lie 
dashed  among  the  boats  in  great  agitation. 


144  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

He  found  his  mother  rather  near  the  scene  of  the  late 
conference. 

"Mother,"  said  he  fiercely,  like  a  coward  as  he  was, 
"ask  me  no  more,  my  mind  is  made  up  forever;  I  will 
not  do  this  scoundrelly,  heartless,  beastly,  ungrateful 
action  you  have  been  pushing  me  to  so  long." 

"  Take  care,  Charles,  take  care,"  said  the  old  woman, 
trembling  with  passion,  for  this  was  a  new  tone  for  her 
son  to  take  with  her.  "  You  had  my  blessing  the  other 
day,  and  you  saw  what  followed  it ;  do  not  tempt  me  to 
curse  an  undutiful,  disobedient,  ungrateful  son." 

" I  must  take  my  chance,"  said  he,  desperately;  "  for  I 
am  under  a  curse  any  way !  I  placed  my  ring  on  her 
finger,  and  held  up  my  hand  to  God  and  swore  she  should 
be  my  wife :  she  has  my  ring  and  my  oath,  and  I  will 
not  perjure  myself  even  for  my  mother." 

"  Your  ring  !  ISTot  the  ruby  ring  I  gave  you  from  your 
dead  father's  finger  —  not  that !  not  that ! " 

"Yes  !  yes  !  I  tell  you  yes  !  and  if  he  was  alive,  and 
saw  her,  and  knew  her  goodness,  he  would  have  pity  on 
me,  but  I  have  no  friend  ;  you  see  how  ill  you  have  made 
me,  but  you  have  no  pity ;  I  could  not  have  believed  it ; 
but  since  you  have  no  mercy  on  me,  I  will  have  the  more 
mercy  on  myself;  I  marry  her  to-morrow,  and  put  an 
end  to  all  this  shuffling  and  manoeuvring  against  an 
angel !  I  am  not  worthy  of  her,  but  I'll  marry  her 
to-morrow.     Good-by." 

"  Stay ! "  said  the  old  woman,  in  a  terrible  voice ; 
"before  you  destroy  me  and  all  I  have  lived  for,  and 
suffered  and  pinched  for,  hear  me  ;  if  that  ring  is  not 
off  the  hussy's  finger  in  half  an  hour,  and  you  my  son 
again,  I  fall  on  this  sand  and  "  — 

"  Then  God  have  mercy  upon  me,  for  I'll  see  the 
whole  creation  lost  eternally,  ere  I'll  wrong  the  only 
creature  that  is  an  ornament  to  the  world." 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  145 

He  was  desperate ;  and  the  weak,  driven  to  despera- 
tion, are  more  furious  than  the  strong. 

It  was  by  Heaven's  mercy  that  neither  mother  nor  son 
had  time  to  speak  again. 

As  they  faced  each  other,  with  flaming  eyes  and  faces, 
all  self-command  gone,  about  to  utter  hasty  words,  and 
lay  up  regret,  perhaps  for  all  their  lives  to  come,  in 
a  moment,  as  if  she  had  started  from  the  earth,  Christie 
Johnstone  stood  between  them  ! 

Gatty's  words,  and  still  more,  his  hesitation,  had  made 
her  quick  intelligence  suspect :  she  had  resolved  to  know 
the  truth;  the  boats  offered  every  facility  for  listening 
—  she  had  heard  every  word. 

She  stood  between  the  mother  and  son. 

They  were  confused,  abashed,  and  the  hot  blood  began 
to  leave  their  faces. 

She  stood  erect  like  a  statue,  her  cheek  pale  as  ashes, 
her  eyes  glittering  like  basilisks,  she  looked  at  neither  of 
them. 

She  slowly  raised  her  left  hand,  she  withdrew  a  ruby 
ring  from  it,  and  dropped  the  ring  on  the  sand  between 
the  two. 

She  turned  on  her  heel,  and  was  gone  as  she  had  come, 
without  a  word  spoken. 

They  looked  at  one  another,  stupefied  at  first ;  after  a 
considerable  pause  the  stern  old  woman  stooped,  picked 
up  the  ring,  and  in  spite  of  a  certain  chill  that  the  young 
woman's  majestic  sorrow  had  given  her,  said,  placing  it 
on  her  own  finger,  "  This  is  for  your  wife  !  " 

"  It  will  be  for  my  coffin,  then,"  said  her  son,  so  coldly, 
so  bitterly,  and  so  solemnly,  that  the  mother's  heart 
began  to  quake. 

"Mother,"  said  he,  calmly,  "forgive  me,  and  accept 
your  son's  arm." 

"  I  willj  my  son." 


146  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

"  We  are  alone  in  the  world  now,  mother." 

Mrs.  Gatty  had  triumphed,  but  she  felt  the  price  of 
her  triumph  more  than  her  victory.  It  had  been  done 
in  one  moment,  that  for  which  she  had  so  labored,  and  it 
seemed  that  had  she  spoken  long  ago  to  Christie,  instead 
of  Charles,  it  could  have  been  done  at  any  moment. 

Strange  to  say,  for  some  minutes  the  mother  felt  more 
uneasy  than  her  son ;  she  was  a  woman,  after  all,  and 
could  measure  a  woman's  heart,  and  she  saw  how  deep 
the  wound  she  had  given  one  she  was  now  compelled  to 
respect, 

Charles,  on  the  other  hand,  had  been  so  harassed  back- 
wards and  forwards,  that  to  him  certainty  was  relief ;  it 
was  a  great  matter  to  be  no  longer  called  upon  to  decide. 
His  mother  had  said  "  Part,"  and  now  Christie  had  said 
'^  Part ;  "  at  least  the  affair  was  taken  out  of  his  hands, 
and  his  first  feeling  was  a  heavenly  calm. 

In  this  state  he  continued  for  about  a  mile,  and  he 
spoke  to  his  mother  about  his  art,  sole  object  now;  but 
after  the  first  mile  he  became  silent,  distrait ;  Christie's 
pale  face,  her  mortified  air,  when  her  generous  offer  was 
coldly  repulsed,  filled  him  with  remorse  :  finally,  unable 
to  bear  it,  yet  not  daring  to  speak,  he  broke  suddenly 
from  his  mother  without  a  word,  and  ran  wildly  back  to 
Newhaven ;  he  looked  back  only  once,  and  there  stood 
his  mother,  pale,  with  her  hands  piteously  lifted  towards 
heaven. 

By  the  time  he  got  to  Newhaven  he  was  as  sorry  for 
her  as  for  Christie.  He  ran  to  the  house  of  the  latter ; 
Flucker  and  Jean  told  him  she  was  on  the  beach.  He 
ran  to  the  beach  ;  he  did  not  see  her  at  first,  but  pres- 
ently looking  back,  he  saw  her,  at  the  edge  of  the  boats, 
in  company  with  a  gentleman  in  a  boating  dress.  He 
looked  —  could  he  believe  his  eyes?  he  saw  Christie 
Johnstone  kiss  this  man's  hand,  who  then,  taking  her 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  147 

head  gently  in  his  two  hands,  pLaced  a  kiss  upon  her 
brow,  whilst  she  seemed  to  yield  lovingly  to  the  caress. 

Gatty  turned  faint,  sick;  for  a  moment  everything 
swam  before  his  eyes ;  he  recovered  himself,  they  were 
gone. 

He  darted  round  to  intercept  them ;  Christie  had  slipped 
away  somewhere ;  he  encountered  the  man  alone ! 


148  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Christie's  situation  requires  to  be  explained. 

On  leaving  Gatty  and  his  mother,  she  went  to  her 
own  house.  Flucker  —  who  after  looking  upon  her  for 
years  as  an  inconvenient  appendage,  except  at  dinner-time, 
had  fallen  in  love  with  her  in  a  manner  that  was  half 
pathetic,  half  laughable,  all  things  considered  —  saw  by 
her  face  she  had  received  a  blow,  and  raising  himself  in 
the  bed,  inquired  anxiously  "  What  ailed  her  ?  " 

At  these  kind  words,  Christie  Johnstone  laid  her  cheek 
upon  the  pillow  beside  Flucker's,  and  said,  — 

''  0,  my  laamb  !  be  kind  to  your  puir  sister  fra  this 
hoor,  for  she  has  naething  i'  the  warld  noo  but  yoursel'." 

Flucker  began  to  sob  at  this. 

Christie  could  not  cry ;  her  heart  was  like  a  lump  of 
lead  in  her  bosom  ;  but  she  put  her  arm  round  his  neck, 
and  at  the  sight  of  his  sympathy  she  panted  heavily,  but 
could  not  shed  a  tear  —  she  was  sore  stricken. 

Presently  Jean  came  in,  and  as  the  poor  girl's  head 
ached  as  well  as  her  heart,  they  forced  her  to  go  and  sit 
in  the  air.  She  took  her  creepie  and  sat  and  looked  on 
the  sea ;  but  whether  she  looked  seaward  or  landward, 
all  seemed  unreal ;  not  things,  but  hard  pictures  of 
things,  some  moving,  some  still.  Life  seemed  ended  — 
she  had  lost  her  love. 

An  hour  she  sat  in  this  miserable  trance  ;  she  was 
diverted  into  a  better,  because  a  somewhat  less  danger- 
ous form  of  grief,  by  one  of  those  trifling  circumstances 
that  often  penetrate  to  the  human  heart,  when  inaccessi- 
ble to  greater  things. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  149 

Willie,  tlie  fiddler,  and  his  brother,  came  through  the 
town,  playing  as  they  went,  according  to  custom ;  their 
music  floated  past  Christie's  ears  like  some  drowsy 
chime,  until,  all  of  a  sudden,  they  struck  up  the  old 
English  air,  "  Speed  the  plough." 

Now  it  was  to  this  tune  Charles  Gatty  had  danced 
with  her  their  first  dance  the  night  they  made  acquaint- 
ance. 

Christie  listened,  lifted  up  her  hands,  and  crying  — 

"  Oh,  what  will  I  do  ?  what  will  I  do  ?  "  burst  into  a 
passion  of  grief. 

She  put  her  apron  over  her  head,  and  rocked  herself, 
and  sobbed  bitterly. 

She  was  in  this  situation  when  Lord  Ipsden,  who  was 
prowling  about,  examining  the  proportions  of  the  boats, 
discovered  her. 

Some  one  in  distress  —  that  was  all  in  his  way. 

"  Madam  !  "  said  he. 

She  lifted  up  her  head. 

"  It  is  Christie  Johnstone.  I'm  so  glad ;  that  is,  I'm 
sorry  you  are  cryin^,  but  I'm  glad  I  shall  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  relieving  you,"  and  his  lordship  began  to  feel  for 
a  check-book. 

"And  div  ye  really  think  siller's  a  cure  for  every 
grief  ?  "  said  Christie  bitterly. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  his  lordship ;  "  it  has  cured 
them  all  as  yet." 

"  It  will  na  cure  me  then ! "  and  she  covered  her  head 
with  her  apron  again. 

"I  am  very  sorry,"  said  he;  "tell  me  (whispering) 
what  is  it  ?  poor  little  Christie  !  " 

"  Dinna  speak  to  me ;  I  think  shame ;  ask  Jean.  0 
Richard,  I'll  no  be  lang  in  this  warld  !  " 

"  Ah ! "  said  he,  "  I  know  too  well  what  it  is  now ;  I 
know  by  sad  experience.     But,  Christie,  money  will  cure 


150  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

it  in  your  case,  and  it  shall,  too ;  only  instead  of  five 
pounds,  we  must  put  a  thousand  pounds  or  two  to  your 
banker's  account,  and  then  they  will  all  see  your  beauty, 
and  run  after  you." 

"  How  daur  ye  even  to  me  that  I'm  seekin'  a  lad  ?  " 
cried  she,  rising  from  her  stool ;  "  I  would  na  care,  sup- 
pose there  was  na  a  lad  in  Britain."   And  off  she  flounced. 

"  Offended  her  by  my  gross  want  of  tact,"  thought  the 
viscount. 

She  crept  back,  and  two  velvet  lips  touched  his  hand. 
That  was  because  she  had  spoken  harshly  to  a  friend. 

"  0  Eichard  !  "  said  she  despairingly,  "  I'll  no  be  lang 
in  this  warld." 

He  was  touched :  and  it  was  then  he  took  her  head 
and  kissed  her  brow,  and  said,  "  This  will  never  do ;  my 
child,  go  home  and  have  a  nice  cry,  and  I  will  speak  to 
Jean ;  and  rely  upon  me,  I  will  not  leave  the  neighbor- 
hood till  I  have  arranged  it  all  to  your  satisfaction." 

And  so  she  went,  —  a  little,  a  very,  very  little  —  com- 
forted by  his  tone  and  words. 

Now  this  was  all  very  pretty ;  but  then  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance of  fifty  yards,  it  looked  very  ugly  ;  and  G-atty,  who 
had  never  before  known  jealousy,  the  strongest  and 
worst  of  human  passions,  was  ripe  for  anything. 

He  met  Lord  Ipsden,  and  said  at  once,  in  his  wise 
temperate  way  : 

"  Sir,  you  are  a  villain  !  " 

Ipsde?i.     Plait-il  ? 

Gatty.     You  are  a  villain  ! 

Ipsden.     How  do  you  make  that  out  ? 

Gatty.     But,  of  course,  you  are  not  a  coward,  too. 

Ipsden  (ironically).  You  surprise  me  with  your 
moderation,  sir. 

Gatty.  Then  you  will  waive  your  rank,  —  you  are  a 
lord,  I  believe,  —  and  give  me  satisfaction. 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  151 

Ipsden.  My  rank,  sir,  such  as  it  is,  engages  me  to 
give  a  proper  answer  to  proposals  of  this  sort ;  I  am  at 
your  orders. 

Gatty.  A  man  of  your  character  must  often  have  been 
called  to  an  account  by  your  victims,  so  —  so  (hesitating) 
perhaps  you  will  tell  me  the  proper  course. 

Ipsden.  I  shall  send  a  note  to  the  castle,  and  the 
colonel  will  send  me  down  somebody  with  a  mustache ; 
I  shall  pretend  to  remember  mustache,  mustache  Avill 
pretend  he  remembers  me ;  he  will  then  communicate 
with  your  friend,  and  they  will  arrange  it  all  for  us. 

Gatty.  And,  perhaps,  through  your  licentiousness, 
one  or  both  of  us  will  be  killed. 

Ipsden.  Yes  ;  but  we  need  not  trouble  our  heads  about 
that,  —  the  seconds  undertake  everything.     "' 

Gatty.     I  have  no  pistols. 

Ipsden.  If  you  will  do  me  the  honor  to  use  one  of 
mine,  it  shall  be  at  your  service. 

Gatty.     Thank  you. 

Ipsden.     To-morrow  morning  ? 

Gatty.  No.  I  have  four  days'  painting  to  do  on  my 
picture  ;  I  can't  die  till  it  is  finished;  — Friday  morning. 

Ipsden.  (He  is  mad.)  I  wish  to  ask  you  a  question ; 
you  will  excuse  my  curiosity.  Have  you  any  idea  what 
we  are  agreeing  to  differ  about  ? 

Gatty.  The  question  does  you  little  credit,  my  lord ; 
that  is  to  add  insult  to  wrong. 

He  went  off  hurriedly,  leaving  Lord  Ipsden  mystified. 

He  thought  Christie  Johnstone  was  somehow  connected 
with  it ;  but  conscious  of  no  wrong,  he  felt  little  disposed 
to  put  up  with  any  insult,  especially  from  this  boy,  to 
whom  he  had  been  kind,  he  thought. 

His  lordship  was,  besides,  one  of  those  good,  simple- 
minded  creatures,  educated  abroad,  who,  when  invited  to 
fight,  simply  bow,  and  load  two  jjistols,  and  get  them- 


152  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

selves  called  at  six ;  instead  of  taking  down  tomes  of 
casuistry  and  puzzling  their  poor  brains  to  find  out 
whether  they  are  game-cocks  or  capons,  and  why. 

As  for  Gatty,  he  hurried  home  in  a  fever  of  passion, 
begged  his  mother's  pardon,  and  reproached  himself  for 
ever  having  disobeyed  her  on  account  of  such  a  perfidi- 
ous  creature  as  Christie  Johnstone. 

He  then  told  her  what  he  had  seen,  as  distance  and 
imagination  had  presented  it  to  him ;  to  his  surprise  the 
old  lady  cut  him  short. 

"  Charles,"  said  she,  "  there  is  no  need  to  take  the 
girl's  character  away ;  she  has  but  one  fault,  —  she  is 
not  in  the  same  class  of  life  as  you,  and  such  marriages 
always  lead  to  misery :  but  in  other  respects  she  is  a 
worthy  young  woman,  —  don't  speak  against  her  char- 
acter, or  you  will  make  my  flesh  creep  ;  you  don't  know 
what  her  character  is  to  a  woman,  high  or  low." 

By  this  moderation  perhaps  she  held  him  still  faster. 

Friday  morning  arrived.  Gatty  had,  by  hard  work, 
finished  his  picture,  collected  his  sketches  from  nature, 
which  were  numerous,  left  by  memorandum  everything 
to  his  mother,  and  was,  or  rather  felt,  as  ready  to  die  as 
live. 

He  had  hardly  spoken  a  word,  or  eaten  a  meal,  these 
four  days ;  his  mother  was  in  anxiety  about  him.  He 
rose  early,  and  went  down  to  Leith ;  an  hour  later,  his 
mother,  finding  him  gone  out,  rose,  and  went  to  seek 
him  at  Newhaven. 

Meantime  Flucker  had  entirely  recovered,  but  his 
Bister's  color  had  left  her  cheeks  ;  and  the  boy  swore 
vengeance  against  the  cause  of  her  distress. 

On  Friday  morning,  then,  there  paced  on  Leith  Sands 
two  figures. 

One  was  Lord  Ipsden. 

The  other  seemed  a  military  gentleman,  who  having 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  153 

swallowed  the  mess-room  poker,  and  found  it  insuffi- 
cient, had  added  the  ramrods  of  his  company. 

The  more  his  lordship  reflected  on  Gatty,  the  less 
inclined  he  had  felt  to  invite  a  satirical  young  dog  from 
barracks  to  criticise  such  o.  rencontre ;  he  had  therefore 
ordered  Saunders  to  get  up  as  a  iield-marshal,  or  some 
such  trifle,  and  what  Saunders  would  have  called  incom- 
parable verticality  was  the  result. 

The  painter  was  also  in  sight. 

Whilst  he  was  coming  up,  Lord  Ipsden  was  lecturing 
Marshal  Saunders  on  a  point  on  which  that  worthy  had 
always  thought  himself  very  superior  to  his  master  — 
''Gentlemanly  deportment." 

"Now,  Saunders,  mind  and  behave  like  a  gentleman, 
or  we  shall  be  found  out." 

"  I  trust,  my  lord,  my  conduct "  — 

"  What  I  mean  is,  you  must  not  be  so  oVerpoweringly 
gentleman-like,  as  you  are  apt  to  be ;  no  gentleman  is  so 
gentleman-like  as  all  that ;  it  could  not  be  borne,  c^est 
suffoquant  ;  and  a  white  handkerchief  is  unsoldier-like 
—  and  nobody  ties  a  white  handkerchief  so  well  as  that ; 
of  all  the  vices,  perfection  is  the  most  intolerable."  His 
lordship  then  touched  with  his  cane  the  generalissimo's 
tie,  whose  countenance  straightway  fell,  as  though  he 
had  lost  three  successive  battles. 

Gatty  came  up. 

They  saluted. 

"  Where  is  your  second,  sir  ?  "  said  the  marechal. 

"  My  second  ?  "  said  Gatty.  "  Ah !  I  forgot  to  wake 
him  —  does  it  matter  ?  " 

"  It  is  merely  a  custom,"  said  Lord  Ipsden,  with  a  very 
slightly  satirical  manner,  "  Savanadero,"  said  he,  "  do 
us  the  honor  to  measure  the  ground,  and  be  everybody's 
second." 

Savanadero  measured  the  ground,  and  handed  a  pistol 


154  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

to  each  combatant,  and  struck  an  imposing  attitude 
apart. 

"  Are  you  ready,  gentlemen  ?  "  said  tliis  Jack-o'-both« 
sides. 

"  Yes ! "  said  both. 

Just  as  the  signal  was  about  to  be  given,  an  inter- 
ruption occurred.  —  *'  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,"  said  Lord 
Ipsden  to  his  antagonist ;  "  I  am  going  to  take  a  liberty 
—  a  great  liberty  with  you,  but  I  think  you  will  find  your 
pistol  is  only  at  half-cock." 

"  Thank  you,  my  lord ;  what  am  I  to  do  with  the 
thing  ?  " 

"Draw  back  the  cock  so,  and  be  ready  to  fire." 

"  So  ?  "     Bang  ! 

He  had  touched  the  trigger  as  well  as  the  cock,  so  off 
went  the  barker;  and  after  a  considerable  pause  the 
field-marshal  sprang  yelling  into  the  air. 

"  Hallo  ! "  cried  Mr.  Gatty. 

"  Ah  !  oh  !  I'm  a  dead  man,"  whined  the  general. 

"Nonsense  !"  said  Ipsden,  after  a  moment  of  anxiety. 
"  Give  yourself  no  concern,  sir,"  said  he,  soothingly,  to 
his  antagonist  —  "a  mere  accident.  —  Marechal,  reload 
Mr.  Gatty's  pistol." 

"  Excuse  me,  my  lord  "  — 

"  Load  his  pistol  directly,"  said  his  lordship,  sternly  ; 
"and  behave  like  a  gentleman." 

"  My  lord !  my  lord !  but  where  shall  I  stand  to  be 
safe  ?  " 

"  Behind  me  !  " 

The  commander  of  division  advanced  reluctantly  for 
Gatty's  pistol. 

"No,  my  lord  !  "  said  Gatty,  "  it  is  plain  I  am  not  a  fit 
antagonist;  I  shall  but  expose  myself — and  my 'mother 
has  separated  us  ;  I  have  lost  her  —  if  you  do  not  win 
her,  some  worse  man  may ;  but  oh !  if  you  are  a  man  use 
her  tenderly."  . 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  155 

«  Whom  ?  " 

*'  Christie  Johnstone  !  0  sir,  do  not  make  her  regret 
me  too  much  !  She  was  my  treasure,  my  consolation,  — • 
she  was  to  be  my  wife,  she  would  have  cheered  the  road 
of  life  —  it  is  a  desert  now.     I  loved  her  —  I  —  I "  — 

Here  the  poor  fellow  choked. 

Lord  Ipsden  turned  round,  and  threw  his  pistol  to 
Saunders,  saying,  "  Catch  that,  Saunders." 

Saunders,  on  the  contrary,  by  a  single  motion  changed 
his  person  from  a  vertical  straight  line  to  a  horizontal 
line,  exactly  parallel  with  the  earth's  surface,  and  the 
weapon  sang  innoxious  over  him. 

His  lordship  then,  with  a  noble  defiance  of  etiquette, 
walked  up  to  his  antagonist,  and  gave  him  his  hand 
with  a  motion  no  one  could  resist ;  —  for  he  felt  for  the 
poor  fellow. 

"  It  is  all  a  mistake,"  said  he.  "  There  is  no  sentiment 
between  La  Johnstone  and  me  but  mutual  esteem.  1 
will  explain  the  whole  thing ;  /  admire  her  for  her 
virtue,  her  wit,  her  innocence,  her  goodness,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing  ;  and  slie  —  what  she  sees  in  me,  I  am  sure 
I  don't  know,"  added  he,  slightly  shrugging  his  aristo- 
cratic shoulders.  "  Do  me  the  honor  to  breakfast  with 
me  at  Newhaven." 

"  I  have  ordered  twelve  sorts  of  fish  at  the  '  Peacock,' 
my  lord,"  said  Saunders. 

"  Divine  !  (I  hate  fish.)  I  told  Saunders  all  would  be 
hungry  and  none  shot ;  by-the-by,  you  are  winged,  1 
think  you  said,  Saunders  ?  " 

"  No,  my  lord !  but  look  at  my  trousers." 

The  bullet  had  cut  his  pantaloons. 

"  I  see  —  only  barked ;  so  go  and  see  about  our 
breakfast." 

"  Yes,  my  lord  "  (faintly). 

"  And  draw  on  me  for  fifty  pounds  worth  of  —  new 
trousers." 


156  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  Yes,  my  lord  "  (sonorously). 

The  duellists  separated,  Gatty  taking  the  short  cut  to 
Kewliaven ;  he  proposed  to  take  his  favorite  swim  there, 
to  refresh  himself  before  breakfast ;  and  he  went  from 
his  lordship  a  little  cheered  by  remarks  which  fell  from 
him,  and  which,  though  vague,  sounded  friendly  ;  —  poor 
fellow,  except  when  he  had  brush  in  hand  he  was  a 
dreamer. 

This  viscount,  who  did  not  seem  to  trouble  his  head 
about  class  dignity,  was  to  convert  his  mother  from  her 
aristocratic  tendencies,  or  something. 

Que  sais-je  ?  what  will  not  a  dreamer  hope  ? 

Lord  Ipsden  strolled  along  the  sands,  and  judge  his 
surprise,  when,  attended  by  two  footmen,  he  met  at  that 
time  in  the  morning,  Lady  Barbara  Sinclair. 

Lord  Ipsden  had  been  so  disheartened  and  piqued  by 
this  lady's  conduct,  that  for  a  whole  week  he  had  not 
been  near  her ;  this  line  of  behavior  sometimes  answers. 

She  met  him  with  a  grand  display  of  cordiality. 

She  inquired,  "Whether  he  had  heard  of  a  most  gallant 
action,  that,  coupled  with  another  circumstance  (here  she 
smiled)  had  in  part  reconciled  her  to  the  age  we  live 
in?" 

He  asked  for  further  particulars. 

She  then  informed  him  "  that  a  ship  had  been  ashore 
on  the  rocks,  that  no  fisherman  dared  venture  out,  that  a 
3'oung  gentleman  had  given  them  his  whole  fortune,  and 
so  bribed  them  to  accompany  him ;  that  he  had  saved  the 
ship  and  the  men's  lives,  paid  away  his  fortune,  and 
lighted  an  odious  cigar,  and  gone  home,  never  minding, 
amidst  the  blessings  and  acclamations  of  a  maritime 
population." 

A  beautiful  story  she  told  him ;  so  beautiful,  in  fact, 
that  until  she  had  discoursed  ten  minutes,  he  hardly 
recognized  his  own  feat  5  but  when  he  did,  he  blushed 


CHRISTIE    JOHNSTONE.  157 

inside  as  well  as  out  with  pleasure.  Oh  !  music  of  music 
—  praise  from  eloquent  lips,  and  those  lips,  the  lips  we 
love. 

The  next  moment  he  felt  ashamed ;  ashamed  that 
Lady  Barbara  should  praise  him  beyond  his  merits,  as 
he  conceived. 

He  made  a  faint  hypocritical  endeavor  to  moderate 
her  eulogium ;  this  gave  matters  an  unexpected  turn : 
Lady  Barbara's  eyes  flashed  defiance. 

"  I  say  it  was  a  noble  action,  that  one  nursed  in  effem- 
inacy (as  you  all  are)  should  teach  the  hardy  seamen  to 
mock  at  peril  —  noble  fellow  ! " 

"  He  did  a  man's  duty,  Barbara." 

"  Ipsden,  take  care,  you  will  make  me  hate  you,  if  you 
detract  from  a  deed  you  cannot  emulate.  This  gentle- 
man risked  his  own  life  to  save  others  —  he  is  a  hero !  I 
should  know  him  b}'  his  face  the  moment  I  saw  him. 
Oh  that  I  were  such  a  man,  or  knew  where  to  find  such 
a  creature ! " 

The  water  came  into  Lord  Ipsden's  eyes ;  he  did  not 
know  what  to  say  or  do ;  he  turned  away  his  head. 

Lady  Barbara  was  surprised  ;  her  conscience  smote 
her. 

"  Oh,  dear,"  said  she,  ''  there  now,  I  have  given  you 
pain  —  forgive  me  ;  we  can't  all  be  heroes  ;  dear  Ipsden, 
don't  think  I  despise  you  now  as  I  used.  Oh,  no !  I 
have  heard  of  your  goodness  to  the  poor,  and  I  have 
more  experience  now.  There  is  nobody  I  esteem  more 
than  you,  Richard,  so  you  need  not  look  so." 

'•  Thank  you,  dearest  Barbara." 

"  Yes,  and  if  you  were  to  be  such  a  goose  as  to  write 
me  another  letter  proposing  absurdities  to  me  "  — 

"  Would  the  answer  be  different  ?  " 

"Very  different." 

"  0  Barbara,  would  you  accept  ?  " 


158  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

*'  Why,  of  course  not  —  but  I  would  refuse  civilly  ! " 

"All!" 

"  There,  don't  sigh ;  I  hate  a  sighing  man.  I'll  tell 
you  something  that  I  know  will  make  you  laugh."  She 
then  smiled  saucily  in  his  face,  and  said,  "  Do  you  remem- 
ber Mr. ?  " 

Veffrontee!  this  was  the  earnest  man. 

But  Ipsden  was  a  match  for  her  this  time. 

" I  think  I  do,"  said  he ;  "a  gentleman  who  wants  to 
make  John  Bull  little  again  into  John  Calf;  but  it  won't 
do." 

Her  ladyship  laughed.  "  Why  did  you  not  tell  us  that 
on  Inch  Coombe  ?  " 

"  Because  I  had  not  read  '  The  Catspaw '  then." 

" '  The  Catspaw '?  Ah  !  I  thought  it  could  not  be  you. 
Whose  is  it  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Jerrold's." 

"  Then  Mr.  Jerrold  is  cleverer  than  you." 

"  It  is  possible." 

"  It  is  certain !  Well,  Mr.  Jerrold  and  Lord  Ipsden, 
you  will  both  be  glad  to  hear  that  it  was,  in  point  of 
fact,  a  bull  that  confuted  the  advocate  of  the  Middle 
Ages ;  we  were  walking ;  he  was  telling  me  manhood 
was  extinct  except  in  a  few  earnest  men  who  lived  upon 
the  past,  its  associations,  its  truth;  when  a  horrid  bull 
gave  —  oh  —  such  a  bellow  !  and  came  trotting  up.  I 
screamed  and  ran  —  I  remember  nothing  but  arriving  at 
tlie  stile,  and  lo,  on  the  other  side,  offering  me  his  arm 
with  empressement  across  the  wooden  barrier,  was  " — 

"  Well  ?  " 

"  Well !  don't  you  see  ?  " 

"  No  —  oh  —  yes,  I  see  !  —  fancy  —  ah  !  Shall  I  tell 
you  how  he  came  to  get  first  over  ?  He  ran  more 
earnestly  than  you." 

''  It  is  not  Mr.  Jerrold  this  time,  I  presume,"  said  her 
satirical  ladyship. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  159 

"Ko!  you  cannot  always  have  him.  I  venture  to 
predict  your  ladyship  on  your  return  home  gave  this 
mediaeval  personage  his  conge.'" 

"  No  ! " 

"  No  ?  " 

"  I  gave  it  him  at  the  stile  !  Let  us  be  serious,  if  you 
please ;  I  have  a  confidence  to  make  you,  Ipsden.  Frankly, 
I  owe  you  some  apology  for  my  conduct  of  late ;  I  meant 
to  be  reserved  —  I  have  been  rude,  — but  you  shall  judge 
me.  A  year  ago  you  made  me  some  proposals ;  I  rejected 
them  because,  though  I  like  you  "  — 

"  You  like  me  ?  " 

"  I  detest  your  character.  Since  then,  my  West  India 
estate  has  been  turned  into  specie ;  that  specie,  the  bulk 
of  my  fortune,  placed  on  board  a  vessel ;  that  vessel  lost, 
at  least  we  think  so — she  has  not  been  heard  of." 

"  My  dear  cousin !  " 

"  Do  you  comprehend  that  now  I  am  cooler  than  ever 
to  all  young  gentlemen  who  have  large  incomes,  and 
(holding  out  her  hand  like  an  angel)  I  must  trouble  you 
to  forgive  me." 

He  kissed  her  lovely  hand. 

"  I  esteem  you  more  and  more,"  said  he. 

"  You  ought,  for  it  has  been  a  hard  struggle  to  me 
not  to  adore  you,  because  you  are  so  improved,  mon 
cousi7iJ' 

"  Is  it  possible  ?     In  what  respect  ?  " 

"  You  are  browner  and  charitabler ;  and  I  should  have 
been  very  kind  to  you  —  mawkishly  kind  I  fear,  my 
sweet  cousin,  if  this  wretched  money  had  not  gone  down 
in  the  Tisbe." 

"  Hallo  ! "  cried  the  viscount. 

''  Ah  !  "  squeaked  Lady  Barbara,  unused  to  such  inter- 
jections. 

"  Gone  down  in  what  ?  "  said  Ipsden  in  a  loud  voice. 


160  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

*' Don't  bellow  in  people's  ears.  The  Tisbe,  stupid," 
cried  she,  screaming  at  the  top  of  her  voice. 

"  Ri  turn,  ti  turn,  ti  turn,  turn,  turn,  tiddy,  iddy,"  went 
Lord  Ipsden,  —  he  whistled  a  polka. 

Lady  Barbara  (inspecting  him  gravely).  I  have  heard 
it  at  a  distance,  but  I  never  saw  how  it  was  done  before. 
It  is  very^  very  pretty  I 

Ipsden.     Polkez-vous,  madame  ? 

Lady  Barbara.     Si,  jepolke,  monsieur  le  vicomte. 

They  polked  for  a  second  or  two. 

"  Well,  I  dare  say  I  am  wrong,"  cried  Lady  Barbara, 
"  but  I  like  you  better  now  you  are  a  downright  —  ahem  ! 
than  when  you  were  only  an  insipid  non-intellectual  — 
You  are  greatly  improved." 

Ipsden.     In  what  respects  ? 

Lady  Barbara.  Did  I  not  tell  you  ?  browner  and  more 
impudent;  but  tell  me  (said  she,  resuming  her  sly  satirical 
tone)  how  is  it  that  you,  who  used  to  be  the  pink  of 
courtesy,  dance  and  sing  over  the  wreck  of  my  fortunes  ? 

"  Because  they  are  not  wrecked." 

"  I  thought  I  told  you  my  specie  is  gone  down  in  the 
Tisbe." 

Iptsden.     But  the  Tisbe  has  not  gone  down. 

Lady  Barbara.     I  tell  you  it  is. 

fysden.     I  assure  you  it  is  not. 

Lady  Barbara.     It  is  not  ? 

Ipsden.  Barbara  !  I  am  too  happy,  I  begin  to  nourish 
such  sweet  hopes  once  more ;  oh,  I  could  fall  on  my  knees 
and  bless  you  for  something  you  said  just  now. 

Lady  Barbara  blushed  to  the  temples. 

"  Then  why  don't  you  ?  "  said  she.  "  All  you  want  is 
a  little  enthusiasm."  Then  recovering  herself,  she 
said,  — 

"  You  kneel  on  wet  sand,  with  black  trousers  on ;  that 
will  never  be  ! " 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  \61 

These  two  were  so  occupied  that  they  did  not  observe 
the  approach  of  a  stranger  until  he  broke  in  upon  their 
dialogue. 

An  ancient  mariner  had  been  for  some  minutes  stand- 
ing off  and  on,  reconnoitring  Lord  Ipsden ;  he  now  bore 
down,  and  with  great  rough,  roaring  cordiality,  that 
made  Lady  Barbara  start,  cried  out,  — 

"Give  me  your  hand,  sir,  —  give  me  your  hand,  if 
you  were  twice  a  lord. 

"  I  couldn't  speak  to  you  till  the  brig  was  safe  in  port, 
and  you  slipped  away,  but  I've  brought  you  up  at  last ; 
and  —  give  me  your  hand  again,  sir.  I  say,  isn't  it  a 
pity  you  are  a  lord  instead  of  a  sailor  ?  " 

Ipsden.     But  I  am  a  sailor. 

Ancient  Mariner.  That  ye  are,  and  as  smart  a  one  as 
ever  tied  a  true-lover's  knot  in  the  top ;  but  tell  the 
truth,  you  were  never  nearer  losing  the  number  of  your 
mess  than  that  day  in  the  old  Tisbe. 

Lady  Barbara.     The  old  Tisbe  !     Oh  ! 

Ipsden.  Do  you  remember  that  nice  little  lurch  she 
gave  to  leeward  as  we  brought  her  round  ? 

Lady  Barbara.     0  Richard  ! 

Ancient  Mariner.  And  that  reel  the  old  wench  gave 
under  our  feet,  north  the  pier-head.  I  wouldn't  have 
given  a  washing-tub  for  her  at  that  moment. 

Ipsden.  Past  danger  becomes  pleasure,  sir.  Olim  et 
hcec  meminisse  —  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir. 

Ancient  Mariner  (taking  off  his  hat,  with  feeling). 
God  bless  ye,  sir,  and  send  ye  many  happy  days,  and 
well  spent,  with  the  pretty  lady  I  see  alongside ;  asking 
your  pardon,  miss,  for  parting  pleasanter  company,  —  so 
I'll  sheer  off. 

And  away  went  the  skipper  of  the  Tisbe,  rolling  fear- 
fully. In  the  heat  of  this  reminiscence,  the  skipper  of 
the   yacht    (they  are  all  alike,  blue  water  once  fairly 


162  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

tasted)  had  lost  sight  of  Lady  Barbara ;  he  now  looked 
round.     Imagine  his  surprise  ! 

Her  ladyship  was  in  tears. 

"  Dear  Barbara,"  said  Lord  Ipsden,  "  do  not  distress 
yourself  on  my  account."  , 

"  It  is  not  your  fe-feelings  I  care  about ;  at  least,  I 
h-h-hope  not ;  but  I  have  been  so  unjust,  and  I  prided 
myself  so  on  my  j-ju-justice." 

"  Never  mind  !  " 

"  Oh  !  if  you  don't,  I  don't.  I  hate  myself,  so  it  is  no 
wonder  you  h-hate  me." 

"  I  love  you  more  than  ever." 

"  Then  you  are  a  good  soul !  Of  course  you  know  I 
always  Z-esteemed  you,  Richard." 

"  No  !     I  had  an  idea  you  despised  me  ! " 

"  How  silly  you  are !  Can't  you  see  ?  When  I 
thought  you  were  not  perfection,  which  you  are  now,  it 
vexed  me  to  death ;  you  never  saw  me  affront  any  one 
but  you  ?  " 

"No,  I  never  did  !     What  does  that  prove  ?  " 

"  That  depends  upon  the  wit  of  him  that  reasons 
thereon."     (Coining  to  herself.) 

"  I  love  you,  Barbara !  Will  you  honor  me  with  your 
hand  ?  " 

"  No  !  I  am  not  so  base,  so  selfish  ;  you  are  worth  a 
hundred  of  me,  and  here  have  I  been  treating  you  de 
haut  en  has.  Dear  Richard,  poor  Richard  !  Oh,  oh,  oh  ! " 
(A  perfect  flood  of  tears.) 

"  Barbara,  I  regret  nothing ;  this  moment  pays  for 
all." 

"  Well,  then,  I  will !  since  you  keep  pressing  me. 
There,  let  me  go ;  I  must  be  alone  ;  I  must  tell  the  sea 
how  unjust  I  was,  and  how  happy  I  am,  and  when  you 
see  me  again,  you  shall  see  the  better  side  of  youi 
cousin  Barbara." 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  163 

She  was  peremptory.  "  She  had  her  folly  and  his 
merits  to  think  over,"  she  said ;  but  she  promised  to 
pass  through  Newhaven,  and  he  should  put  her  into  her 
pony-phaeton,  which  would  meet  her  there. 

Lady  Barbara  was  only  a  fool  by  the  excess  of  her 
wit  over  her  experience  ;  and  Lord  Ipsden's  love  was 
not  misplaced,  for  she  had  a  great  heart  which  she  hid 
from  little  people.     I  forgive  her. 

The  resolutions  she  formed  in  company  with  the  sea, 
having  dismissed  Ipsden,  and  ordered  her  flunky  into 
the  horizon,  will  probably  give  our  viscount  just  half  a 
century  of  conjugal  bliss. 

As  he  was  going,  she  stopped  him  and  said,  "Your 
friend  had  browner  hands  than  I  have  hitherto  conceived 
possible.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  took  them  for  the  claws  of 
a  mahogany  table  when  he  grappled  you,  —  is  that  the 
term  ?     Cest  egal !  I  like  him  "  — 

She  stopped  him  again.  "  Ipsden,  in  the  midst  of  all, 
that  poor  man's  ship  is  broken.  I  feel  it  is  !  You  will 
buy  him  another,  if  you  really  love  me,  —  for  I  like 
him." 

And  so  these  lovers  parted  for  a  time ;  and  Lord 
Ipsden  with  a  bounding  heart  returned  to  Newhaven. 
He  went  to  entertain  his  late  vls-a-vls  at  the  '-Peacock." 

Meantime  a  sh"orter  and  less  pleasant  rencontre  had 
taken  place  between  Leith  and  that  village. 

Gatty  felt  he  should  meet  his  lost  sweetheart ;  and 
sure  enough,  at  a  turn  of  the  road  Christie  and  Jean 
came  suddenly  upon  him. 

Jean  nodded,  but  Christie  took  no  notice  of  him ;  they 
passed  him  ;  he  turned  and  followed  them,  and  said, 
"Christie!" 

"  What  is  your  will  wi'  me  ?  "  said  she  coldly. 

"I  —  I  —  how  pale  you  are  ! " 

"I  am  no  very  week" 


164  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

"  She  has  been  watching  over  muckle  wi'  Flucker," 
said  Jean. 

Christie  thanked  her  with  a  look. 

"  I  hope  it  is  not  —  not "  — 

"  Nae  fears,  lad,"  said  she  briskly ;  "  I  dinna  think 
that  muckle  o'  ye." 

"  And  I  think  of  nothing  but  you,"  said  he. 

A  deep  flush  crimsoned  the  young  woman's  brow,  but 
she  restrained  herself,  and  said  icily,  "  Thaat's  very  gude 
o'  ye,  I'm  sure." 

Gatty  felt  all  the  contempt  her  manners  and  words 
expressed.  He  bit  his  lips :  the  tear  started  to  his  eye. 
"  You  will  forget  me,"  said  he :  "I  do  not  deserve  to 
be  remembered,  but  I  shall  never  forget  you.  I  leave 
for  England :  I  leave  ISTewhaven  forever,  where  I  have 
been  so  happy.  I  am  going  at  three  o'clock  by  the 
steamboat :  won't  you  bid  me  good-by  ?  "  He  approached 
her  timidly. 

"  Ay  !  that  wull  do,"  cried  she  ;  "  Gude  be  wi'  ye,  lad ; 
I  wish  ye  nae  ill."  She  gave  a  commanding  gesture  of 
dismissal ;  he  turned  away,  and  went  sadly  from  her. 

She  watched  every  motion  when  his  back  was  turned. 

"  That  is  you,  Christie,"  said  Jean  ;  ''  use  the  lads  like 
dirt,  an'  they  think  a'  the  mair  o'  ye." 

"  0  Jean,  my  hairt's  broken.  I'm  just  deeing  for 
him." 

"Let  me  speak  till  him  then,"  said  Jean ;  "I'll  sune 
bring  him  till  his  marrow-banes  ;  "  and  she  took  a  hasty 
step  to  follow  him. 

Christie  held  her  fast.  "  I'd  dee  ere  I'd  give  in  till 
them.  0  Jean!  I'm  a  lassy  clean  flung  awa;  he  has 
neither  hairt  nor  spunk  ava,  yon  lad  ! " 

Jean  began  to  make  excuses  for  him :  Christie  in- 
veighed against  him ;  Jean  spoke  up  for  him  with  more 
earnestness. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  165 

Now  observe,  Jean  despised  the  poor  boy. 

Christie  adored  him. 

So  Jean  spoke  for  him,  because  women  of  every  degree 
are  often  one  solid  mass  of  tact;  and  Christie  abused 
him,  because  she  wanted  to  hear  him  defended. 


166  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Richard,  Lord  Viscount  Ipsden,  having  dotted  the 
seashore  with  sentinels,  to  tell  him  of  Lady  Barbara's 
approach,  awaited  his  guest  in  the  "  Peacock ; "  but  as 
Gatty  was  a  little  behind  time,  he  placed  Saunders  sen- 
tinel over  the  "Peacock,"  and  strolled  eastward;  as  he 
came  out  of  the  "Peacock,"  Mrs.  Gatty  came  down  the 
little  hill  in  front,  and  also  proceeded  eastward ;  mean- 
time Lady  Barbara  and  her  escort  were  not  far  from  the 
New  Town  of  Newhaven,  on  their  way  from  Leith. 

Mrs.  Gatty  came  down,  merely  with  a  vague  fear. 
She  had  no  reason  to  suppose  her  son's  alliance  with 
Christie  either  would  or  could  be  renewed,  but  she  was 
a  careful  player  and  would  not  give  a  chance  away ;  she 
found  he  was  gone  out  unusually  early,  so  she  came 
straight  to  the  only  place  she  dreaded ;  it  was  her  son's 
last  day  in  Scotland.  She  had  packed  his  clothes,  and 
he  had  inspired  her  with  confidence  by  arranging  pict- 
ures, etc.,  himself;  she  had  no  idea  he  was  packing  for 
his  departure  from  this  life,  not  Edinburgh  onl3^ 

She  came  then  to  Newhaven  with  no  serious  misgiv- 
ings, for  even  if  her  son  had  again  vacillated,  she  saw 
tliat  with  Christie's  pride  and  her  own  firmness,  the  game 
must  be  hers  in  the  end ;  but  as  I  said  before,  she  was 
one  who  played  her  cards  closely,  and  such  seldom  lose. 

But  my  story  is  with  the  two  young  fishwives,  who,  on 
their  return  from  Leith,  found  themselves  at  the  foot  of 
the  New  Town,  Newhaven,  some  minutes  before  any  of 
the  other  persons  who,  it  is  to  be  observed,  were  approach- 
ing it  from  different  points ;  they  came  slowly  in,  Christie 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  167 

in  particular,  with  a  listlessness  she  had  never  known 
till  this  last  week ;  for  some  days  her  strength  had  failed 
her  —  it  was  Jean  that  carried  the  creel  now ;  before, 
Christie,  in  the  pride  of  her  strength,  would  always  do 
more  than  her  share  of  their  joint  labor ;  then  she  could 
hardly  be  forced  to  eat,  and  what  she  did  eat  was  quite 
tasteless  to  her ;  and  sleep  left  her,  and  in  its  stead  came 
uneasy  slumbers,  from  which  she  awoke,  quivering  from 
head  to  foot. 

Oh!  perilous  venture  of  those  who  love  one  object 
with  the  whole  heart. 

This  great  but  tender  heart  was  breaking  day  by  day. 

Well,  Christie  and  Jean  strolling  slowly  into  the 
New  Town  of  Newhaven,  found  an  assemblage  of  the 
natives  all  looking  seaward ;  the  fishermen,  except  Sandy 
Liston,  were  away  at  the  herring-fishery,  but  all  the  boys 
and  women  of  the  New  Town  were  collected ;  the  girls 
felt  a  momentary  curiosity ;  it  proved,  however,  to  be 
only  an  individual  swimming  in  towards  shore  from  a 
greater  distance  than  usual. 

A  little  matter  excites  curiosity  in  such  places. 

The  man's  head  looked  like  a  spot  of  ink. 

Sandy  Liston  was  minding  his  own  business,  lazily 
mending  a  skait-net,  which  he  had  attached  to  a  crazy 
old  herring-boat  hauled  up  to  rot. 

Christie  sat  down,  pale  and  languid,  by  him,  on  a 
creepie  that  a  lass  who  had  been  baiting  a  line  with 
mussels  had  just  vacated ;  suddenly  she  seized  Jean's 
arm  with  a  convulsive  motion.  Jean  looked  up  —  it  was 
the  London  steamboat  running  out  fi'om  Leith  to  Gran- 
ton  Pier  to  take  up  her  passengers  for  London.  Charles 
Gatty  was  going  by  that  boat ;  the  look  of  mute  despair 
the  poor  girl  gave  went  to  Jean's  heart  —  she  ran  hastily 
from  the  group,  and  cried  out  of  sight  for  poor  Christie. 

A  fishwife  looking  through  a  telescope  at  the  swimmer 


168  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

remarked,  "  He's  coming  in  fast ;  he's  a  gallant  swimmer 
yon  "  — 

"Can  he  dee't?"  inquired  Christie  of  Sandy  Liston. 

"  Fine  thaat,"  was  the  reply,  "  he  does  it  aye  o'  Sun- 
days when  ye  are  at  the  kirk." 

''It's  no  oot  o'  the  kirk-window  ye'll  hae  seen  him, 
Sandy,  my  mon,"  said  a  young  fishwife. 

"Rin  for  my  glass  ony  way,  Flucker,"  said  Christie, 
forcing  herself  to  take  some  little  interest. 

Flucker  brought  it  to  her.  She  put  her  hand  on  his 
shoulder,  got  slowly  up,  and  stood  on  the  creepie,  and 
adjusted  the  focus  of  her  glass;  after  a  short  view  she 
said  to  Flucker,  — 

"  Rin  and  see  the  nock."  She  then  levelled  her  glass 
again  at  the  swimmer. 

Flucker  informed  her  the  nock  said  "half  eleven," 
—  Scotch  for  half-past  ten. 

Christie  whipped  out  a  well-thumbed  almanac. 

"  Yon  nock's  aye  ahint,"  said  she.  She  swept  the  sea 
once  more  with  her  glass,  then  brought  it  together  with 
a  click,  and  jumped  off  the  stool ;  her  quick  intelligence 
viewed  the  matter  differently  from  all  the  others. 

"Noow,"  cried  she,  smartly,  "wha'll  lend  me  his 
yawl  ?  " 

"  Hets  !  dinna  be  sae  interferin,  lassie,"  said  a  fishwife. 

"  Hae  nane  o'  ye  ony  spunk  ?  "  said  Christie,  taking 
no  notice  of  the  woman.     ''  Speak,  laddies  ! " 

"  M'uncle's  yawl  is  at  the  pier-head ;  ye'll  get  her,  my 
woman,"  said  a  boy. 

"A  schell'n  for  wha's  first  on  board,"  said  Christie, 
holding  up  the  coin. 

"  Come  awa,  Flucker,  we'll  hae  her  schell'n,"  and  these 
two  worthies  instantly  effected  a  false  start. 

"It's  no  under  your  jackets,"  said  Christie,  as  she 
dashed  after  them  like  the  wind. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  169 

"  Haw  !  haw  !  haw  !  "  laughed  Sandy. 

"What's  her  business  picking  up  a  nion  against  his 
will  ?  "  said  a  woman. 

"  She's  an  awfu'  lassie,"  whined  another. 

The  examination  of  the  swimmer  was  then  continued, 
and  the  crowd  increased ;  some  would  have  it  he  was 
rapidly  approaching,  others  that  he  made  little  or  no 
way. 

"  Wha  est  ?  "  said  another. 

"  It's  a  lummy,"  said  a  girl. 

"Ka!  it's  no  a  lummy,"  said  another. 

Christie's  boat  was  now  seen  standing  out  from 
the  pier.  Sandy  Liston,  casting  a  contemptuous  look 
on  all  the  rest,  lifted  himself  lazily  into  the  herring-boat 
and  looked  seaward.  His  manner  changed  in  a  mo- 
ment. 

"  The  deevil ! "  cried  he  ;  "  the  tide's  turned !  You  wi' 
your  glass,  could  you  no  see  yon  man's  drifting  oot  to 
sea  ?  " 

"  Hech  ! "  cried  the  women,  "  he'll  be  drooned,  he'll  be 
drooned ! " 

"  Yes,  he'll  be  drooned  ! "  cried  Sandy,  "  if  yon  lassie 
does  na  come  alongside  him  deevelich  quick  —  he's  sair 
spent  I  doot." 

Two  spectators  were  now  added  to  the  scene,  Mrs. 
Gatty  and  Lord  Ipsden.  Mrs.  Gatty  inquired  what  was 
the  matter. 

"  It's  a  mon  drooning,"  was  the  reply. 

The  poor  fellow,  whom  Sandy,  by  aid  of  his  glass, 
now  discovered  to  be  in  a  worn-out  condition,  was  about 
half  a  mile  east  of  Newhaven  pier-head,  and  unfortu- 
nately the  wind  was  nearly  due  east.  Christie  was 
standing  north-north-east,  her  boat-hook  jammed  against 
the  sail,  which  stood  as  flat  as  a  knife. 

The  natives  of  the  Old  Town  were  now  seen  pouring 


170  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

down  to  the  pier  and  the  beach,  and  strangers  were  col- 
lecting like  bees. 

"  After-wit  is  everybody's  wit ! " 

Old  Proverb. 

The  affair  was  in  the  Johnstone's  hands. 

"That  boat  is  not  going  to  the  poor  man,"  said  Mrs. 
Gatty;  "it  is  turning  its  back  upon  him." 

"  She  canna  lie  in  the  wind's  eye,  for  as  clever  as  she 
is,"  answered  a  fishwife. 

"I  ken  wha  it  is,"  suddenly  squeaked  a  little  fishwife  ; 
"  it's  Christie  Johnstone's  lad ;  it's  yon  daft  painter  f r' 
England.  Hech ! "  cried  she,  suddenly,  observing  Mrs. 
Gatty,  "  it's  your  son,  woman." 

The  unfortunate  woman  gave  a  fearful  scream,  and 
flying  like  a  tiger  on  Liston,  commanded  him,  "to  go 
straight  out  to  sea,  and  save  her  son." 

Jean  Carnie  seized  her  arm  ;  "  Div  ye  see  yon  boat  ?  " 
cried  she ;  "and  div  ye  mind  Christie,  the  lass  wha's 
hairt  ye  hae  broken  ?  aweel,  woman,  —  ith  just  a  race 
betioeen  deeth  and  Cirsty  Johnstone  for  your  son." 

The  poor  old  woman  swooned  dead  away ;  they  carried 
her  into  Christie  Johnstone's  house,  and  laid  her  down, 
then  hurried  back  —  the  greater  terror  absorbed  the 
less. 

Lady  Barbara  Sinclair  was  there  from  Leith,  and  see- 
ing Lord  Ipsden  standing  in  the  boat  with  a  fisherman, 
she  asked  him  to  tell  her  what  it  was ;  neither  he  nor 
any  one  answered  her. 

"  Why  doesn't  she  come  about,  Liston  ?  "  cried  Lord 
Ipsden,  stamping  with  anxiety  and  impatience. 

"  She'll  no  be  lang,"  said  Sandy ;  "  but  they'll  mak  a 
mess  o't  wi'  ne'er  a  man  i'  the  boat." 

"  Ye're  sure  o'  thaat  ?  "  put  in  a  woman. 

"  Ay,  about  she  comes,"  said  Liston,  as  the  sail  came 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  171 

down  on  the  first  tack.  He  was  mistaken ;  they  dipped 
the  lug  as  cleverly  as  any  man  in  the  town  could. 

"  Hech !  look  at  her  haulfng  on  the  rope  like  a  mon," 
cried  a  woman.     The  sail  flew  up  on  the  other  tack. 

"  She's  an  awfu'  lassie,"  whined  another. 

"He's  awa,"  groaned  Liston,  "he's  doon!" 

"No!  he's  up  again,"  cried  Lord  Ipsden;  "but  I  fear 
he  can't  live  till  the  boat  comes  to  him." 

The  fisherman  and  the  viscount  held  on  by  each  other. 

"  tie  does  na  see  her,  or  maybe  he'd  tak  hairt." 

"I'd  give  ten  thousand  pounds  if  only  he  could  see 
her.  My  God,  the  man  will  be  drowned  under  our  eyes. 
If  he  but  saw  her !  " 

The  words  had  hardly  left  Lord  Ipsden's  lips,  when 
the  sound  of  a  woman's  voice  came  like  an  ^olian  note 
across  the  water. 

"  Hurraih  !  "  roared  Liston,  and  every  creature  joined 
the  cheer. 

,"  She'll  no  let  him  dee.  Ah  !  she's  in  the  bows,  hail- 
ing him  an'  waving  the  lad's  bonnet  ower  her  head  to 
gie  him  coorage.     Gnde  bless  ye,  lass.  Glide  bless  ye  ! " 

Christie  knew  it  was  no  use  hailing  him  against  the 
wind,  but  the  moment  she  got  the  wind  she  darted  into 
the  bows,  and  pitched,  in  its  highest  key,  her  full  and 
brilliant  voice ;  after  a  moment  of  suspense  she  received 
proof  that  she  must  be  heard  by  him,  for  on  the  pier 
now  hung  men  and  women,  clustered  like  bees,  breath- 
less with  anxiety,  and  the  moment  after  she  hailed  the 
drowning  man,  she  saw  and  heard  a  wild  yell  of  applause 
burst  from  the  pier,  and  the  pier  was  more  distant  than 
the  man.  She  snatched  Flucker's  cap,  planted  her  foot 
on  the  gunwale,  held  on  by  a  rope,  hailed  the  poor  fellow 
again,  and  waved  the  cap  round  and  round  her  head,  to 
give  him  courage ;  and  in  a  moment,  at  the  sight  of  this, 
thousands  of  voices  thundered  back  their  cheers  to  her 


172  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

across  the  water.  Blow,  wind ;  spring,  boat ;  and  you, 
Christie,  still  ring  life  towards  those  despairing  ears, 
and  wave  hope  to  those  sinking  eyes ;  cheer  the  boat  on, 
you  thousands  that  look  upon  this  action.  Hurrah !  from 
the  pier ;  Hurrah !  from  the  town ;  Hurrah  !  from  the 
shore ;  Hurrah !  now,  from  the  very  ships  in  the  roads, 
whose  crews  are  swarming  on  the  yards  to  look ;  five 
minutes  ago  they  laughed  at  you ;  three  thousand  eyes 
and  hearts  hang  upon  you  now ;  ay,  these  are  the  moments 
we  live  for ! 

And  now  dead  silence.  The  boat  is  within  fifty  yards, 
they  are  all  three  consulting  together  round  the  mast : 
an  error  now  is  death;  his  forehead  only  seems  above 
water. 

''If  they  miss  him  on  that  tack,"  said  Lord  Ipsden, 
significantly,  to  Liston. 

"  He'll  never  see  London  Brigg  again,"  was  the  whis- 
pered reply. 

They  carried  on  till  all  on  shore  thought  they  would 
run  over  him,  or  past  him ;  but  no,  at  ten  yards  distant 
they  were  all  at  the  sail,  and  had  it  down  like  lightning; 
and  then  Flucker  sprang  to  the  bows,  the  other  boy  to 
the  helm. 

Unfortunately,  there  were  but  two  Johnstones  in  the 
boat ;  and  this  boy,  in  his  hurry,  actually  put  the  helm 
to  port,  instead  of  to  starboard.  Christie,  who  stood 
amidships,  saw  the  error ;  she  sprang  aft,  flung  the  boy 
from  the  helm,  and  jammed  it  hard-a-starboard  with  her 
foot.  The  boat  answered  the  helm,  but  too  late  for 
Flucker ;  the  man  was  four  yards  from  him  as  the  boat 
drifted  by. 

"  He's  a  deed  mon  ! "  cried  Liston,  on  shore. 

The  boat's  length  gave  one  more  little  chance ;  the 
after-part  must  drift  nearer  him  —  thanks  to  Christie. 
Flucker  flew  aft,  flung  himself  on  his  back,  and  seized 
his  sister's  petticoats. 


CHRISTIE    JOHNSTONE.  173 

"Fling  yourself  ower  the  gunwale,"  screamed  he. 
"Ye'll  no  hurt;  I'se  haud  ye." 

She  flung  herself  boldly  over  the  gunwale ;  the  man 
was  sinking,  her  nails  touched  his  hair,  her  fingers 
entangled  themselves  in  it,  she  gave  him  a  powerful 
wrench  and  brought  him  alongside ;  the  boys  pinned  him 
like  wild  cats. 

Christie  darted  away  forward  to  the  mast,  passed  a 
rope  round  it,  threw  it  the  boys ;  in  a  moment  it  was 
under  his  shoulders.  Christie  hauled  on  it  from  the  fore 
thwart,  the  boys  lifted  him,  and  they  tumbled  him,  gasp- 
ing and  gurgling  like  a  dying  salmon,  into  the  bottom  of 
the  boat,  and  flung  net  and  jackets  and  sail  over  him,  to 
keep  the  life  in  him. 

Ah !  draw  your  breath  all  hands  at  sea  and  ashore, 
and  don't  try  it  again,  young  gentleman,  for  there  was 
nothing  to  spare :  when  you  were  missed  at  the  bow  two 
stout  hearts  quivered  for  you ;  Lord  Ipsden  hid  his  face 
in  his  two  hands,  Sandy  Liston  gave  a  groan,  and  when 
you  were  grabbed  astern,  jumped  out  of  his  boat,  and 
cried,  — 

"A  jill  o'  whiskey  for  ony  favor,  for  it's  turned  me  as 
seeck  as  a  doeg."  He  added,  "He  may  bless  yon  lassie's 
fowr  banes,  for  she's  taen  him  oot  o'  death's  maw,  as 
sure  as  Gude's  in  heaven ! " 

Lady  Barbara,  who  had  all  her  life  been  longing  to  see 
perilous  adventures,  prayed,  and  trembled,  and  cried  most 
piteously ;  and  Lord  Ipsden's  back  was  to  her,  and  he 
paid  no  attention  to  her  voice ;  but  when  the  battle  was 
won  and  Lord  Ipsden  turned  and  saw  her,  she  clung  to 
his  arm  and  dried  her  tears ;  and  then  the  Old  Town 
cheered  the  boat,  and  the  New  Town  cheered  the  boat, 
and  the  towns  cheered  each  other ;  and  the  Johnstones, 
lad  and  lass,  set  their  sail,  and  swept  back  in  triumph 
to  the  pier ;  so  then  Lady  Barbara's  blood  mounted  and 


174  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

tingled  in  her  veins  like  fire.  "  Oh,  hoAV  noble  !  "  cried 
she. 

" Yes,  dearest,"  said  Ipsden.  "You  have  seen  some- 
thing great  done  at  last ;  and  by  a  woman,  too  ! " 

"Yes,"  said  Barbara,  "how  beautiful !  oh,  how  beauti- 
ful it  all  is  !  only  the  next  one  I  see,  I  should  like  the 
danger  to  be  over  first,  that  is  all." 

The  boys  and  Christie,  the  moment  they  had  saved 
Gatty,  up  sail  again  for  Newhaven  ;  they  landed  in  about 
three  minutes  at  the  pier. 

Time.  Mm.  Sec. 

From  Newhaven  town  to  pier  on  foot      ...     1     30 

First  tack 5    30 

Second  tack  and  getting  liim  on  board     ...     4    00 
Back  to  the  pier,  going  free 3    30 

Total 14    30 

They  came  in  to  the  pier,  Christie  sitting  quietly  on 
the  thwart  after  her  work,  the  boy  steering,  and  Flucker 
standing  against  the  mast,  hands  in  his  pockets j  the 
deportment  this  young  gentleman  thought  fit  to  assume 
on  this  occasion  was  "complete  apathy."  He  came  into 
port  with  the  air  of  one  bringing  home  the  ordinary 
results  of  his  day's  fishing;  this  was,  I  suppose,  to 
impress  the  spectators  with  the  notion  that  saving  lives 
was  an  every -day  affair  with  la  famille  Johnstone ;  as 
for  Gatty,  he  came  to  himself  under  his  heap  of  nets  and 
jackets,  and  spoke  once  between  death's  jaw  and  the 
pier. 

"  Beautiful  !  "  murmured  he,  and  was  silent.  The 
meaning  of  this  observation  never  transpired,  and  never 
will  in  this  world.  Six  months  afterwards,  being  sub- 
jected to  a  searching  interrogatory,  he  stated  that  he  had 
alluded  to  the  majesty  and  freedom  of  a  certain  pose 
Christie  had  adopted  whilst  hailing  him  from  the  boat ; 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  175 

but,  reader,  if  lie  had  wanted  you  and  me  to  believe  it 
was  this,  he  should  not  have  been  half  a  year  finding 
it  out  —  increduli  odimus  !  They  landed,  and  Christie 
sprang  on  shore ;  whilst  she  was  wending  her  way 
through  the  crowd,_  impeded  by  greetings  and  acclama- 
tions, with  every  now  and  then  a  lass  waving  her  ker- 
chief, or  a  lad  his  bonnet,  over  the  heroine's  head,  poor 
Mrs.  Gatty  was  receiving  the  attention  of  the  New  Town  ; 
they  brought  her  to,  they  told  her  the  good  news  —  she 
thanked  God. 

The  whole  story  had  spread  like  wildfire  ;  they  ex- 
postulated with  her,  they  told  her  now  was  the  time  to 
show  she  had  a  heart,  and  bless  the  young  people. 

She  rewarded  them  with  a  valuable  precept. 

"Mind  your  own  business  ! "  said  she. 

"Hech !  y'  are  a  dour  wife  !"  cried  Newhaven. 

The  dour  wife  bent  her  eyes  on  the  ground. 

The  people  were  still  collected  at  the  foot  of  the  street, 
but  they  were  now  in  knots,  when  in  dashed  Plucker, 
arriving  by  a  short  cut,  and  crying,  "  She  does  na  ken, 
she  does  na  ken,  she  was  ower  moedest  to  look,  I  daur 
say,  and  ye'll  no  tell  her,  for  he's  a  blackguard,  an'  he"s 
just  making  a  fule  o'  the  puir  lass,  and  if  she  kens  what 
she  has  done  for  him,  she'll  be  fonder  o'  him  than  a  coow 
o'  her  cauf." 

"  O  Flucker  !  we  maun  tell  her,  it's  her  lad,  her  ain 
lad,  she  saved,"  expostulated  a  woman. 

''  Did  ever  my  feyther  do  a  good  turn  till  ye  ?  "  cried 
Flucker.  "Aweel,  then,  ye'll  no  tell  the  lassy,  she's 
weel  as  she  is ;  he's  gaun  t'  Enngland  the  day.  I  caunie 
gie  ye  a'  a-hidin,"  said  he,  with  an  eye  that  flashed  volumes 
of  good  intention,  on  a  hundred  and  fifty  people ;  "  but 
I  am  feytherless  and  motherless,  an'  I  can  fa'  on  my 
knees  an'  curse  ye  a'  if  ye  do  us  sic  an  ill  turn,  an'  then 
ye'll  see  whether  ye'll  thrive." 


176  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  We'll  no  tell,  Flucker,  ye  need  na  currse  us  ony  way." 

His  lordship,  with  all  the  sharp  authority  of  a  skipper, 
ordered  Master  Flucker  to  the  pier,  with  a  message  to 
the  yacht ;  Flucker  qua  yachtsman  was  a  machine,  and 
went  as  a  matter  of  course.  "  I  am  determined  to  tell 
her,"  said  Lord  Ipsden  to  Lady  Barbara. 

''  But,"  remonstrated  Lady  Barbara,  "  the  poor  boy 
says  he  will  curse  us  if  we  do." 

''He  won't  curse  me." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  ?  " 

"  Because  the  little  blackguard's  grog  would  be  stopped 
on  board  the  yacht  if  he  did." 

Flucker  had  not  been  gone  many  minutes  before  loud 
cheering  was  heard,  and  Christie  Johnstone  appeared 
convoyed  by  a  large  detachment  of  the  Old  Town ;  she 
had  tried  to  slip  away,  but  they  would  not  let  her.  They 
convoyed  her  in  triumph  till  they  saw  the  New  Town 
people,  and  then  they  turned  and  left  her. 

She  came  in  amongst  the  groups,  a  changed  woman  — 
her  pallor  and  her  listlessness  were  gone  —  the  old  light 
was  in  her  eye,  and  the  bright  color  in  her  cheek,  and 
she  seemed  hardly  to  touch  the  earth.  "  I'm  just 
droukit,  lasses,"  cried  she,  gayly,  wringing  her  sleeve. 
Every  eye  was  upon  her ;  did  she  know,  or  did  she  not 
know,  what  she  had  done  ? 

Lord  Ipsden  stepped  forward;  the  people  tacitly  ac- 
cepted him  as  the  vehicle  of  their  curiosity. 

''  Who  was  it,  Christie  ?  " 

"  I  dinna  ken,  for  my  pairt !  " 

Mrs.  Gatty  came  out  of  the  house. 

"  A  handsome  young  fellow,  I  hope,  Christie  ? "  re- 
sumed Lord  Ipsden. 

"  Ye  maun  ask  Flucker,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  could  no 
tak  muckle  notice,  ye  ken,"  putting  her  hand  before  he> 
eye,  and  half  smiling. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  177 

"  Well !  I  hear  he  is  very  good  looking ;  and  I  hear 
you  think  so,  too." 

She  glided  to  him,  and  looked  in  his  face.  He  gave  a 
meaning  smile.  The  poor  girl  looked  quite  perplexed. 
Suddenly  she  gave  a  violent  start. 

"  Christie !  where  is  Christie  ?  "  had  cried  a  well- 
known  voice.  He  had  learned  on  the  pier  who  had 
saved  him  —  he  had  slipped  up  among  the  boats  to  find 
her  —  he  could  not  find  his  hat  —  he  could  not  wait  for 
it  —  his  dripping  hair  showed  where  he  had  been  —  it 
was  her  love,  whom  she  had  just  saved  out  of  death's 
very  jaws. 

She  gave  a  cry  of  love,  that  went  through  every  heart, 
high  or  low,  young  or  old,  that  heard  it.  And  she  went 
to  him,  through  the  air  it  seemed ;  but  quick  as  she  was, 
another  was  as  quick ;  the  mother  had  seen  him  first, 
and  she  was  there.  Christie  saw  nothing.  With  an- 
other cry,  the  very  keynote  of  her  great  and  loving  heart, 
she  flung  her  arms  round  —  Mrs.  Gatty,  Avho  was  on  the 
same  errand  as  herself. 

"  Heai'ts  are  not  steel,  and  steel  is  bent; 
Hearts  are  not  flint,  and  flint  is  rent." 

The  old  woman  felt  Christie  touch  her.  She  turned 
from  her  son  in  a  moment,  and  wept  upon  her  neck. 
Her  lover  took  her  hand  and  kissed  it,  and  pressed  it  to 
his  bosom,  and  tried  to  speak  to  her;  but  all  he  could 
do  was  to  sob  and  choke  —  and  kiss  her  hand  again. 

"  My  daughter !  "  sobbed  the  old  woman. 

At  that  word  Christie  clasped  her  quickly  ;  and  then 
Christie  began  to  cry. 

"  I  am  not  a  stone,"  cried  Mrs.  Gatty.  "  I  gave  him 
life ;  but  you  have  saved  him  from  death.  0  Charles ! 
never  make  her  repent  what  she  has  done  for  you." 


178  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

She  was  a  woman  after  all ;  and  prudence  and  prejudice 
melted  like  snow  before  her  heart. 

There  were  not  many  dry  eyes  —  least  of  all  the  heroic 
Lady  Barbara's. 

The  three  whom  a  moment  had  made  one,  were  becom- 
ing calmer,  and  taking  one  another's  hands  for  life,  when 
a  diabolical  sound  arose  —  and  what  was  it,  but  Sandy 
Liston,  who,  after  furious  resistance,  was  blubbering  with 
explosive  but  short-lived  violence.  Haviug  done  it,  he 
was  the  first  to  draw  everybody's  attention  to  the  phe- 
nomenon ;  and  affecting  to  consider  it  a  purely  physical 
attack,  like  a  coup  de  soleil,  or  so  on,  he  proceeded 
instantly  to  Drysel's  for  his  panacea. 

Lady  Barbara  enjoined  Lord  Ipsden  to  watch  these 
people,  and  not  to  lose  a  word  they  said ;  and  after  she 
had  insisted  upon  kissing  Christie,  she  went  off  to  her 
carriage.  And  she,  too,  was  so  happy,  she  cried  three 
distinct  times  on  her  way  to  Edinburgh. 

Lord  Ipsden  having  reminded  Gatty  of  his  engagement, 
begged  him  to  add  his  mother  and  Christie  to  the  party, 
and  escorted  Lady  Barbara  to  her  phaeton. 

So  then  the  people  dispersed  by  degrees. 

"  That  old  lady's  face  seems  familiar  to  me,"  said  Lord 
Ipsden,  as  he  stood  on  the  little  natural  platform  by  the 
"  Peacock."     "  Do  you  know  who  she  is,  Saunders  ?  " 

"It  is  Peggy,  that  was  cook  in  your  lordship's  uncle's 
time,  my  lord.  She  married  a  greengrocer,"  added 
Saunders,  with  an  injured  air. 

"  Hech  !  hech  ! "  cried  Flucker,  "  Christie  has  ta'en  up 
her  head  wi'  a  cook's  son." 

Mrs.  Gatty  was  ushered  into  the  "  Peacock,"  with 
mock  civility,  by  Mr.  Saunders.  No  recognition  took 
place,  each  being  ashamed  of  the  other  as  an  acquaint- 
ance. 

The    next  arrival  was  a  beautiful   young  lady,  in  a 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  179 

black  silk  gown,  a  plain  but  duck-like  plaid  shawl, 
who  proved  to  be  Christie  Johnstone,  in  her  Sunday 
attire. 

When  they  met,  Mrs.  Gatty  gave  a  little  scream  of 
joy,  and  said,  "  0  my  child  !  if  I  had  seen  you  in  that 
dress,  I  should  never  have  said  a  word  against  you." 

"  Pars  minima  est  ipsa  puella  sui ! " 

His  lordship  stepped  up  to  her,  took  off  his  hat,  and 
said,  "  Will  Mrs.  Gatty  take  from  me  a  commission  for 
two  pictures,  as  big  as  herself,  and  as  bonny,"  added  he, 
doing  a  little  Scotch.  He  handed  her  a  check  ;  and 
turning  to  Gatty,  added,  "at  your  convenience,  sir,  lien 
entenduP 

"Hech!  it's  for  five  hundred  pund,  Chairles." 

"  Good  gear  gangs  in  little  book,"  ^  said  Jean. 

"Ay,  does  it,"  replied  Flucker,  assuming  the  compli- 
ment. 

"My  lord,"  said  the  artist,  "you  treat  Art  like  a 
prince  ;  and  she  shall  treat  you  like  a  queen.  When 
the  sun  comes  out  again,  I  will  work  for  you  and  fame. 
You  shall  have  two  things  painted,  every  stroke  loyally 
in  the  sunlight.  In  spite  of  gloomy  winter  and  gloomier 
London,  I  will  try  if  I  can't  hang  nature  and  summer  on 
your  walls  forever.  As  for  me,  you  know  I  must  go  to 
Gerard  Dow  and  Cuyp,  and  Pierre  de  Hoogh,  when  my 
little  sand  is  run  ;  but  my  handwriting  shall  warm  your 
children's  children's  hearts,  sir,  when  this  hand  is  dust." 
His  eye  turned  inwards,  he  walked  to  and  fro,  and  his 
companions  died  out  of  his  sight  —  he  was  in  the  king- 
dom of  art. 

His  lordship  and  Jean  entered  the  "Peacock,"  followed 
by  Flucker,  who  merely  lingered  at  the  door  to  moralize 
as  follows :  — 

1  Bulk. 


180  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

"  Hech  !  hech  !  isna  thaat  lamentable  ?  Christie's 
mon's  as  daft  as  a  drunk  weaver." 

But  one  stayed  quietly  behind,  and  assumed  that 
moment  the  office  of  her  life. 

"  Ay,"  he  burst  out  again,  "  the  resources  of  our  art  are 
still  unfathovied !  Pictures  are  yet  to  he  painted  that 
shall  refresh  men's  inner  souls,  and  help  their  hearts 
ar/ainst  the  artificial  world,  and  charm  the  fiend  away, 
like  David's  harp  !  The  world,  after  centuries  of  lies,  will 
(jive  nature  and  truth  a  trial.  What  a  paradise  art  will 
be  ivhen  truths,  instead  of  lies,  shall  be  told  on  paper,  on 
marble,  on  canvas,  arid  on  the  boards  !  " 

"  Dinner's  on  the  boarrd,"  murmured  Christie,  alluding 
to  Lord  Ipsden's  breakfast ;  "  and  I  hae  the  charge  o' 
ye,"  pulling  his  sleeve  hard  enough  to  destroy  the  equi- 
librium of  a  flea. 

"  Then  don't  let  us  waste  our  time  here.     0  Christie  ! " 

"  What  est,  my  laddy  ?  " 

"  I'm  so  preciously  hungry  ! " 

"  C-way  1  then  !  " 

Off  they  ran,  hand  in  hand,  sparks  of  beauty,  love,  and 
happiness  flying  all  about  them. 

>  Come  away. 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONK.  181 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"There  is  nothing  but  meeting  and  parting  in  this 
world ! "  and  you  may  be  sure  the  incongruous  person- 
ages of  our  tale  could  not  long  be  together.  Their  sepa- 
rate paths  had  met  for  an  instant,  in  one  focus,  furnished 
then  and  there  the  matter  of  an  eccentric  story,  and  then 
diverged  forever. 

Our  lives  have  a  general  current,  and  also  an  episode 
or  two ;  and  the  episodes  of  a  common-place  life  are 
often  rather  startling ;  in  like  manner,  this  tale  is  not 
a  specimen,  but  an  episode  of  Lord  Ipsden  and  Lady 
Barbara,  who  soon  after  this  married  and  lived  like  the 
rest  of  the  beau  monde.  In  so  doing,  they  passed  out  of 
my  hands  ;  such  as  wish  to  know  how  viscounts  and 
viscountesses  feed  and  sleep  and  do  the  domestic  (so 
called)  and  the  social  (so  called),  are  referred  to  the 
fashionable  novel.  To  Mr.  Saunders,  for  instance,  who 
has  in  the  press  one  of  those  cerberus-leviathans  of  fic- 
tion, so  common  now  ;  incredible  as  folio  to  future  ages, 
Saunders  will  take  you  by  the  hand,  and  lead  you  over 
carpets  two  inches  thick  —  under  rosy  curtains  —  to 
dinner-tables.  He  will  fete  you,  and  opera  you,  and 
dazzle  your  young  imagination  with  epergnes,  and  sal- 
vers, and  buhl,  and  ormolu.  No  fishwives  or  painters 
shall  intrude  upon  his  polished  scenes  ;  all  shall  be  as 
genteel  as  himself.  Saunders  is  a  good  authority  ;  he  is 
more  in  the  society,  and  far  more  in  the  confidence  of 
the  great,  than  most  fashionable  novelists.  Mr.  Saun- 
ders's work  will  be  in  three  volumes  ;  nine  hundred  and 
ninety  pages ! 


182  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

In  other  words,  this  single  work,  of  this  ingenious 
writer,  will  equal  in  bulk  the  aggregate  of  all  the  writ- 
ings extant  by  Moses,  David,  Solomon,  Isaiah,  and  St. 
Paul! 

I  shall  not  venture  into  competition  with  this  behe- 
moth of  the  salon  ;  1  will  evaporate  in  thin  generalities. 

Lord  Ipsden,  then,  lived  very  happily  with  Lady  Bar- 
bara, whose  hero  he  straightway  became,  and  who  nobly 
and  poetically  dotes  upon  him.  He  has  gone  into  polit- 
ical life  to  please  her,  and  will  remain  there  —  to  please 
himself.  They  were  both  very  grateful  to  Newhaven  ; 
when  they  married,  they  vowed  to  visit  it  twice  a  year, 
and  mingle  a  fortnight's  simple  life  with  its  simple 
scenes ;  but  four  years  have  passed,  and  they  have 
never  been  there  again,  and  I  dare  say  never  will ; 
but  when  Viscount  Ipsden  falls  in  with  a  brother  aristo- 
crat who  is  crushed  by  the  fiend  ennui,  he  remembers 
Aberford,  and  condenses  his  famous  recipe  into  a  two- 
edged  hexameter,  which  will  make  my  learned  reader 
laugh,  for  it  is  full  of  wisdom  :  — 

"Diluculo  surgas  !  miseris  succurrere  discas  !" 

Flucker  Johnstone  meditated  during  breakfast  upon 
the  five  hundred  pounds,  and  regretted  he  had  not,  years 
ago,  adopted  Mr.  Gatty's  profession ;  some  days  after- 
wards he  invited  his  sister  to  a  conference.  Chairs  being 
set,  Mr.  riucker  laid  down  this  observation  —  that  near 
relations  should  be  deuced  careful  not  to  cast  discredit 
upon  one  another ;  that  now  his  sister  was  to  be  a  lady, 
it  was  repugnant  to  his  sense  of  right  to  be  a  fisherman 
and  make  her  ladyship  blush  for  him  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  felt  it  his  duty  to  rise  to  such  high  consideration  that 
she  should  be  proud  of  him. 

Christie  acquiesced  at  once  in  this  position,  but  pro- 
fessed herself  embarrassed  to  know  how  such  a  "  ne'er- 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  183 

do-weel "  was  to  be  made  a  source  of  pride  ;  then  she 
kissed  Flucker,  and  said,  in  a  tone  somewhat  inconsist- 
ent with  the  above,  "  Tell  me,  my  laamb  I " 

Her  lamb  informed  her,  that  the  sea  has  many  paths  ; 
some  of  them  disgraceful,  such  as  line  or  net  fishing,  and 
the  periodical  laying  down,  on  rocky  shoals,  and  taking 
up  again,  of  lobster-creels ;  others,  superior  to  anything 
the  dry  land  can  offer  in  importance  and  dignity  and 
general  estimation,  such  as  the  command  of  a  merchant- 
vessel  trading  to  the  East  or  West  Indies.  Her  lamb 
then  suggested  that  if  she  would  be  so  good  as  to  launch 
him  in  the  merchant-service,  with  a  good  rig  of  clothes 
and  money  in  his  pocket,  there  was  that  in  his  head 
which  would  enable  him  to  work  to  windward  of  most  of 
his  contemporaries.  He  bade  her  calculate  upon  the 
following  results  :  in  a  year  or  two  he  would  be  second 
mate  —  and  next  year,  first  mate  —  and,  in  a  few  years 
more,  skipper !  Think  of  that,  lass !  Skipper  of  a 
vessel,  whose  rig  he  generously  left  his  sister  free  to 
determine  :  premising  that  two  masts  were,  in  his  theory 
of  navigation,  indispensable,  and  that  three  were  a  great 
deal  more  like  Cocker  than  two.  This  led  to  a  gen- 
eral consultation ;  Flucker's  ambition  was  discussed  and 
praised.  That  modest  young  gentleman,  in  spite  of 
many  injunctions  to  the  contrary,  communicated  his 
sister's  plans  for  him  to  Lord  Ipsden,  and  affected  to 
doubt  their  prudence.  The  bait  took  ;  Lord  Ipsden  wrote 
to  his  man  of  business,  and  an  unexpected  blow  fell  upon 
the  ingenious  Flucker.  He  was  sent  to  school ;  there  to 
learn  a  little  astronomy,  a  little  navigation,  a  little  sea- 
manship, a  little  manners,  etc. ;  in  the  mysteries  of 
reading  and  writing  his  sister  had  already  perfected 
him  by  dint  of  "  the  taws."  This  school  was  a  blow  ; 
but  Flucker  was  no  fool :  he  saw  there  was  no  way  of 
getting  from  school  to  sea  without  working.     So  he  liter- 


184  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

ally  worked  out  to  sea.  His  first  voyage  was  clistin« 
guished  by  the  following  peculiarities :  attempts  to  put 
tricks  upon  this  particular  novice  generally  ended  in  the 
laugh  turning  against  the  experimenters ;  and  instead  of 
drinking  his  grog,  which  he  hates,  he  secreted  it,  and 
sold  it  for  various  advantages.  He  has  been  now  four 
voyages ;  when  he  conies  ashore,  instead  of  going  to 
haunts  of  folly  and  vice,  he  instantly  bears  up  for 
his  sister's  house — Kensington  Gravel-pits — which  he 
makes  in  the  following  manner  :  he  goes  up  the  river — 
Heaven  knows  where  all  —  this  he  calls  running  down 
the  longitude ;  then  he  lands,  and  bears  down  upon  the 
Gravel-pits  :  in  particular  knowledge  of  the  names  of 
streets  he  is  deficient,  but  he  knows  the  exact  bearings 
of  Christie's  dwelling.  He  tacks  and  wea,rs  according 
as  masonry  compels  him,  and  he  arrives  at  the  gate.  He 
hails  the  house,  in  a  voice  that  brings  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  row  to  their  windows,  including  Christie  ;  he  is 
fallen  upon  and  dragged  into  the  house.  The  first  thing 
is,  he  draws  out  from  his  boots,  and  his  back,  and  other 
hiding-places,  China  crape  and  marvellous  silk  handker- 
chiefs for  Christie ;  and  she  takes  from  his  pocket  a  mass 
of  Oriental  sugar-plums,  with  which,  but  for  this  pre- 
caution, she  knows  by  experience  he  would  poison  young 
Charley ;  and  soon  he  is  to  be  seen,  sitting  with  his 
hand  in  his  sister's,  and  she  looking  like  a  mother  upon 
his  handsome  weather-beaten  face,  and  Gatty  opposite 
adoring  him  as  a  specimen  of  male  beauty,  and  some- 
times making  furtive  sketches  of  him.  And  then  the 
tales  he  always  brings  with  him  ;  the  house  is  never  very 
dull,  but  it  is  livelier  than  ever  when  this  inexhaustible 
sailor- casts  anchor  in  it. 

The  friends  (chiefly  artists)  who  used  to  leave  at  9.30, 
stay  till  eleven  :  for  an  intelligent  sailor  is  better  com- 
pany than  two  lawyers,  two  bishops,  three  soldiers,  and 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  185 

four  writers  of  plays  and  tales,  all  rolled  together.  And 
still  he  tells  Christie  he  shall  command  a  vessel  some 
day,  and  leads  her  to  the  most  cheering  inferences  from 
the  fact  of  his  prudence  and  his  general  width-awake ; 
in  particular  he  bids  her  contrast  with  him  the  general 
fate  of  sailors,  eaten  up  by  land-sharks,  particularly  of 
the  female  gender,  whom  he  demonstrates  to  be  the 
worst  enemies  poor  Jack  has  ;  he  calls  these  sunken 
rocks,  fire-ships,  and  other  metaphors.  He  concludes 
thus :  "  You  are  all  the  lass  I  mean  to  have,  till  I'm  a 
skipper,  and  then  I'll  bear  up  alongside  some  pretty 
decent  lass,  like  yourself,  Christie,  and  we'll  sail  in 
company  all  our  lives,  let  the  Avind  blow  high  or  low." 
Such  is  the  gracious  Flucker  become  in  his  twentieth 
year.  Last  voyage,  with  Christie's  aid,  he  produced  a 
sextant  of  his  own,  and  "  made  it  twelve  o'clock  "  (with 
the  sun's  consent,  I  hope),  and  the  eyes  of  authority  fell 
upon  him.  So  who  knows,  perhaps  he  may  one  day  sail 
a  ship ;  and  if  he  does,  he  will  be  prouder  and  happier 
than  if  we  made  him  monarch  of  the  globe. 

To  return  to  our  chiefs ;  Mrs.  Gatty  gave  her  formal 
consent  to  her  son's  marriage  with  Christie  Johnstone. 

There  were  examples.  Aristocracy  had  ere  now  con- 
descended to  wealth ;  earls  had  married  women  rich  by 
tallow-importing  papas ;  and,  no  doubt,  had  these  same 
earls  been  ■consulted  in  Gatty 's  case,  they  would  have 
decided  that  Christie  Johnstone,  with  her  real  and  funded 
property,  was  not  a  villanous  match  for  a  greengrocer's 
son,  without  a  rapp ;  ^  but  Mrs.  Gatty  did  not  reason  so, 
—  did  not  reason  at  all,  luckily,  her  heart  ran  away  with 
her  judgment,  and  her  judgment  ceasing  to  act,  she 
became  a  wise  woman. 

The  case  was  peculiar.     Gatty  was  an  artist  pur  sang^ 

1  A  diminutive  German  coin. 


186  CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE. 

—  and  Christie,  who  would  not  have  been  the  wife  for  a 
petit  maitre,  was  the  wife  of  wives  for  him. 

He  wanted  a  beautiful  wife  to  embellish  his  canvas, 
disfigured  hitherto  by  an  injudicious  selection  of  models  ; 
a  virtuous  wife,  to  be  his  crown ;  a  prudent  wife,  to  save 
him  from  ruin  ;  a  cheerful  wife,  to  sustain  his  spirits, 
drooping  at  times  by  virtue  of  his  artist's  temperament ; 
an  intellectual  wife,  to  preserve  his  children  from  being 
born  dolts,  and  bred  dunces,  and  to  keep  his  own  mind 
from  sharpening  to  one  point,  and  so  contracting  and  be- 
coming monomaniacal :  and  he  found  all  these  qualities, 
together  with  the  sun  and  moon  of  human  existence  — 
true  love  and  true  religion  —  in  Christie  Johnstone. 

In  similar  cases,  foolish  men  have  set  to  work  to 
make,  in  six  months,  their  diamond  of  nature,  the  exact 
cut  and  gloss  of  other  men's  pastes,  and  nervously  watch- 
ing the  process,  have  suffered  torture ;  luckily  Charles 
Gatty  was  not  wise  enough  for  this ;  he  saw  nature  had 
distinguished  her  he  loved  beyond  her  fellows;  here,  as 
elsewhere,  he  had  faith  in  nature, — he  believed  that 
Christie  would  charm  everybody  of  eye,  and  ear,  and 
mind,  and  heart,  that  approached  her ;  he  admired  her  as 
she  was,  and  left  her  to  polish  herself,  if  she  chose. 
He  did  well ;  she  came  to  London  with  a  fine  mind,  a 
broad  brogue,  a  delicate  ear;  she  observed  how  her 
husband's  friends  spoke,  and  in  a  very  few  months  she 
had  toned  down  her  Scotch  to  a  rich  Ionic  coloring, 
which  her  womanly  instinct  will  never  let  her  exchange 
for  the  thin  vinegar  accents  that  are  too  prevalent  in 
English  and  French  society ;  and  in  other  respects  she 
caught,  by  easy  gradation,  the  tone  of  the  new  society  to 
which  her  marriage  introduced  her,  without,  however, 
losing  her  charming  self. 

The  wise  dowager  lodges  hard  by,  having  resisted  an 
invitation  to  be  in  the  same  house ;  she  comes  to  that 


CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE.  187 

house  to  assist  the  young  wife- with  her  experience,  and 
to  be  welcome,  —  not  to  interfere  every  minute,  and  tease 
her ;  she  loves  her  daughter-in-law  almost  as  much  as 
she  does  her  son,  and  she  is  happy  because  he  bids  fair 
to  be  an  immortal  painter,  and  above  all,  a  gentleman; 
and  she  a  wifely  wife,  a  motherly  mother,  and  above  all, 
a  lady. 

This,  then,  is  a  happy  couple.  Their  life  is  full  of 
purpose  and  industry,  yet  lightened  by  gayety ;  they  go 
to  operas,  theatres,  and  balls,  for  they  are  young.  They 
have  plenty  of  society,  real  society,  not  the  ill-assorted 
collection  of  a  predetermined  number  of  bodies,  that 
blindly  assumes  that  name,  but  the  rich  communication 
of  various  and  fertile  minds ;  they  very,  very  seldom 
consent  to  squat  four  mortal  hours  on  one  chair  (like  old 
hares  stiffening  in  their  hot  forms),  and  nibbling,  sipping, 
and  twaddling,  in  four  mortal  hours,  what  could  have 
been  eaten,  drunken,  and  said,  in  thirty-five  minutes. 
They  are  both  artists  at  heart,  and  it  shocks  their  natures 
to  see  folks  mix  so  very  largely  the  inutile  with  the 
insipidum,  and  waste  at  one  huge  but  barren  incubation, 
the  soul,  and  the  stomach,  and  the  irrevocable  hours, 
things  with  which  so  much  is  to  be  done.  But  they 
have  many  desirable  acquaintances,  and  not  a  few  friends ; 
the  latter  are  mostly  lovers  of  truth  in  their  several 
departments,  and  in  all  things  :  among  them  are  painters, 
sculptors,  engineers,  writers,  conversers,  thinkers ;  these 
acknowledging,  even  in  England,  other  gods  besides  the 
intestines,  meet  often  chez  Gatty,  chiefly  for  mental  in- 
tercourse ;  a  cup  of  tea  with  such  is  found,  by  experience, 
to  be  better  than  a  stalled  elk  where  chit-chat  reigns 
over  the  pi-ostrate  hours. 

This,  then,  is  a  happy  couple ;  the  very  pigeons  and 
the  crows  need  not  blush  for  the  nest  at  Kensington 
Gravel-pits.    There  the  divine  institution,  marriage,  takes 


188  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

its  natural  colors,  and  it  is  at  once  pleasant  and  good 
to  catch  such  glimpses  of  Heaven's  design,  and  sad  to 
think  how  often  this  great  boon,  accorded  by  God  to  man 
and  woman,  must  have  been  abused  and  perverted,  ere  it 
could  have  sunii:  to  be  the  standing  butt  of  farce-writers, 
and  the  theme  of  weekly  punsters. 

In  this  pair  we  see  the  wonders  a  male  and  female 
can  do  for  each  other  in  the  sweet  bond  of  holy  wedlock. 
In  that  blessed  relation  alone  two  interests  are  reall}^ 
one,  and  two  hearts  lie  safe  at  anchor  side  by  side. 

Christie  and  Charles  are  friends,  —  for  they  are  man 
and  wife. 

Christie  and  Charles  are  lovers  still,  —  for  they  are 
man  and  wife. 

Christie  and  Charles  are  one  forever,  —  for  they  are 
man  and  wife. 

This  wife  brightens  the  house  from  kitchen  to  garret, 
for  her  husband  ;  this  husband  works  like  a  king  for  his 
wife's  comfort  and  for  his  own  fame,  — and  that  fame  is 
his  wife's  glory.  When  one  of  these  expresses  or  hints 
a  wish,  the  other's  first  impulse  is  to  find  the  means,  not 
the  objections. 

They  share  all  troubles,  and  by  sharing,  halve  them. 

They  share  all  pleasures,  and  by  sharing  double  them. 

They  climb  the  hill  together  now,  and  many  a  canty 
day  they  shall  have  with  one  another ;  and  when,  by  the 
inevitable  law,  they  begin  to  descend  towards  the  dark 
valley,  they  will  still  go  hand  in  hand,  smiling  so  ten- 
derly, and  supporting  each  other  with  a  care  more  lovely 
than  when  the  arm  was  strong  and  the  foot  firm. 

On  these  two  temperate  lives  old  age  will  descend 
lightly,  gradually,  gently,  and  late, — and  late  upon 
these  evergreen  hearts,  because  they  are  not  tuned  to 
some  selfish,  isolated  key  ;  these  hearts  beat  and  ring 
with  the  young  hearts  of  their  dear  children,  and  years 


CHRISTIE   JOHNSTONE.  189 

hence  papa  and  mamma  will  begin  life  hopefully,  wish- 
fully, warmly  again  with  each  loved  novice  in  turn. 

And  when  old  age  does  come,  it  will  be  no  calamity  to 
these,  as  it  is  to  you,  poor  battered  beau,  laughed  at  by 
the  fair  ninnies  who  erst  laughed  with  you;  to  you,  poor 
follower  of  salmon,  fox,  and  pheasant,  whose  joints  are 
stiffening,  whose  nerve  is  gone,  —  whose  Golgotha  re- 
mains ;  to  you,  poor  faded  beauty,  who  have  staked  all 
upon  man's  appetite,  and  not  accumulated  goodness  or 
sense  for  your  second  course ;  to  you,  poor  drawing-room 
wit,  whose  sarcasm  has  turned  to  venom,  and  is  turning 
to  drivel. 

What  terrors  has  old  age  for  this  happy  pair  ?  it  can- 
not make  them  ugly,  for  though  the  purple  light  of  youth 
recedes,  a  new  kind  of  tranquil  beauty,  the  aloe-blossom 
of  many  years  of  innocence,  comes  to,  and  sits  like  a 
dove  upon  the  aged  faces,  where  goodness,  sympathy, 
and  intelligence  have  harbored  together  so  long ;  and 
where  evil  passions  have  flitted  (for  we  are  all  human), 
but  found  no  resting-place. 

Old  age  is  no  calamity  to  them :  it  cannot  terrify 
them  :  for  ere  they  had  been  married  a  week  the  woman 
taught  the  man,  lover  of  truth,  to  search  for  the  highest 
and  greatest  truths,  in  a  book  written  for  men's  souls, 
by  the  Author  of  the  world,  the  sea,  the  stars,  the  sun, 
the  soul;  and  this  book,  Dei  rjratid,  will,  as  the  good 
bishop  sings,  — 

"  Teach  them  to  live,  that  they  may  dread 
The  grave  as  little  as  their  bed." 

It  cannot  make  them  sad,  for  ere  it  comes,  loved  souls 
will  have  gone  from  earth,  and  from  their  tender  bosom, 
but  not  from  their  memories ;  and  will  seem  to  beckon 
them  now  across  the  cold  valley  to  the  golden  land. 

It  cannot  make  them  sad,  for  on  earth  the  happiest 


190  CHRISTIE  JOHNSTONE. 

must  drink  a  sorrowful  cup  more  than  once  in  a  long 
life,  and  so  their  brightest  hopes  will  have  come  to  dwell 
habitually  on  things  beyond  the  grave ;  and  the  great 
painter,  jam  senex,  will  chiefly  meditate  upon  a  richer 
landscape,  and  brighter  figures  than  human  hand  has 
ever  painted;  a  scene  whose  glories  he  can  see  from 
hence  but  by  glimpses,  and  through  a  glass  darkly ;  the 
great  meadows  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  which  are 
bright  with  the  spirits  of  the  just  that  walk  there,  and 
are  warmed  with  an  eternal  sun,  and  ring  with  the  tri- 
umph of  the  humble  and  the  true,  and  the  praises  of 
God  forever. 


NOTE. 


This  story  was  written  three  years  ago,  and  one  or 
two  topics  in  it  are  not  treated  exactly  as  they  would  be 
if  written  by  the  same  hand  to-day.  But  if  the  author 
had  retouched  those  pages  with  his  colors  of  1853,  he 
would  (he  thinks)  have  destroyed  the  only  merit  they 
have,  viz.,  that  of  containing  genuine  contemporaneous 
verdicts  upon  a  cant  that  was  flourishing  like  a  peony, 
and  a  truth  that  was  struggling  for  bare  life,  in  the  year 
of  truth  1850. 

He  prefers  to  deal  fairly  with  the  public,  and,  with 
this  explanation  and  apology,  to  lay  at  its  feet  a  faulty 
but  genuine  piece  of  work. 


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